The Ghost and the Darkness
by DragonGirl323
Summary: After contracting a fatal disease, Tifa wakes up to find herself in a very different world full of strangers and no one to turn to.
1. Gray and Green

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own nor claim to own any aspect of Final Fantasy VII including the plot, characters, music or anything else applicable. All rights belong to Square Enix. I do, however, own the idea for this story. All rights for that goes to me. There will be no other disclaimers for this story so please refer to this chapter in the future. Thank you.

**Author's Note:**

**Update October 4th, 2012**

As of this date, the edit on this fic has been completed. Thank you to everyone that continues to support me. I'll always be appreciative.

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**The Ghost and the Darkness**

**By: Jenna Duffy**

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**Chapter 1**

**Gray and Green**

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**(Tifa)**

Gray. And a little green. A bright, neon green mixed with gray. The only two colors I've ever known. I've always wondered if there are any other colors that exist besides the green mixed with gray.

_Impossible,_ I thought to myself. _If there were other colors besides green and gray then why can I not see them?_

I've always hated the green. It's my reminder that I'm stuck here in this unparalleled universe with nothing but a horizon of green with specs of gray as far as the eye can see.

But, the green is also my life force. It keeps me alive. It flows gently around me, soothing me with its cool, yet warm caress.

I begin to wonder what my life was like before the green mixed with gray. Did I have a life? If so, who was I and what was my name? Where did I live? Who were my friends and family?

_Ding._

An unfamiliar sound suddenly floats through the green, causing me to frown. The sound of rushing water immediately follows and the sensation of the green rushing past my body makes me panic. I feebly try to lift my arms to claw at the retreating warmth, but find myself being pulled forward. I stretch my arms out in a futile attempt to catch myself, but my body is so weak that I crumple to the floor in a heap.

The green that I had become so accustomed to transformed into a blinding white. Small dots of fluorescent color danced before my vision, making me dizzy. Staring at the light for too long made my eyes burn so I resorted to closing them, finding comfort in the black abyss.

I opened my eyes again after what seemed like an eternity later and I was surprised to find that I could make out some distinct objects in the room around me. I dared to move my limbs and succeeded in propping myself up on my elbows. My head swam and it felt like I might pass out, but I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, waiting for the dizziness in my head to subside.

After a few moments, I was able to sit up all the way with no more dizzying effects. I squinted my eyes, trying to make out the shapes around me. I closed my eyes and rubbed them, hoping that it would help. I looked back up and was pleased to find that I could see clearly.

I peered around the room for a few moments before my eyes settled on an examination table that had a pile of what looked like clothing on top of it. In anticipation of getting into warm, dry clothes I placed my hands firmly on the ground and pushed myself up, but slipped, hitting the hard ground.

I stared down and lifted my hands up, finding the same neon green liquid on my palms that had once surrounded me and kept me alive. I wiped them off on the stained green hospital gown that I wore and tried to stand up once again.

I pushed myself up onto my knees then slowly but steadily planted both my feet on the floor and rose hesitantly. I slid one of my feet forward then the next, testing how well I could stand on my feet before walking forward.

I stopped in front of the examination table and looked at the clothing that was on the surface. There was a white tank top, blue jeans, a black zip up sweater and clean undergarments.

I gathered them up into my arms and looked around for a place I could clean all the green liquid from my body. I spotted a door in the back of the room and opened it, finding a shower, sink and toilet within.

I frowned, wondering if this room had been placed here specifically for me.

I stepped toward the sink carefully and was immediately disappointed to see no mirror hanging above it.

_If I could see what I look like then maybe I could remember what happened in my past,_ I thought, my shoulders slumping.

I set my new clothes down on the floor and pulled the sticky gown off of me before stepping into the shower and turning it on. At first the water was cold, but quickly warmed up, making me sigh in relief. There was nothing but a rag and bar of soap on the small shelf for me to use, but it was better than nothing.

I began to feverishly scrub my body to get rid of the sticky green fluid that had once kept me alive. Once I thought I was clean, I began to run my fingers through my tangled hair. When I was done, I turned the shower off and stepped out, looking around for something to dry off with. I looked in the cupboard under the sink and smiled when I found a single white towel. I grabbed it and wrapped it around my body, wiping all the water away as the cool air in the room chilled my heated skin.

After I was dry, I placed the towel down on the toilet seat and began to dress, enjoying the feeling of the soft cotton opposed to the starchy fabric of the hospital gown. I dried my hair as best as I could before leaving the bathroom, standing in the doorway and taking in my surroundings for the first time since waking up.

The floor was plain white tile, the walls and ceiling white stucco. I stared at the green puddle of liquid that was still on the floor, my eyes following the trail of liquid before landed on the glass tube that I had been suspended in for who knows how long. I carefully stepped over the puddle of liquid and ventured into another area of the room, narrowing my eyes as I heard a low crackling sound like someone was wading up a piece of paper. I frowned and tried to find the origin of the strange sound.

I walked past a filing cabinet then spotted a small television sitting on a counter with a VCR next to it.

I walked toward it and flipped open the video cover, seeing that a tape was inside. I pulled over a chair from an empty desk and sat in front of the television then pressed the play button, a feeling of anticipation crawling across my skin. I stared intently at the screen as it turned blue then quickly switched to the face of a middle aged man. My eyebrows pinched together. That face was so familiar, but I couldn't remember how I knew him.

"Hello, Tifa," the man said, smiling widely. "You must be confused about what you're doing here so I'll get busy explaining. A few years after the Meteor and Sephiroth incident, you contracted a fatal disease and almost died. Luckily, you were placed in suspended animation while mako, the only cure, worked to rid you of the disease. The only bad thing about this process is that it is very slow working and you would be asleep for a very, very long time. By the time you get this, myself and everyone else from Avalanche will have long passed away. Well, maybe besides Nanaki. When you are able, try to get transportation to Cosmo Canyon. I know he will be very happy to see you. You'll be the only two left. Before I go, I want to let you know how much everyone misses you. This strange new disease picked the wrong person to attack. I hope you are doing well and that you can adjust to the changes you are bound to encounter. Good bye, Tifa. Take care of yourself."

The video cut out and the white static continued once again for many long moments before I reached forward and shut the television off.

"Tifa." I repeated the name over and over again. "Tifa Lockhart."

I looked back up at the black screen. The man in the video was Reeve, the operator of the fortuneteller, Cait Sith. Then, like a wave, the memories of my days in Avalanche came flooding back to me. Memories of my closest friend's faces flashed in my mind's eye. Barrett, Red XIII, Aeris, Yuffie, Cid, Cloud…and someone else. A tall man with black hair and red eyes.

I frowned as I dug into my memory. This ma with the red cape and gold gauntlet on his left hand was a stranger to me. The feeling that there was something special about him bugged me like an itch I couldn't scratch. I knew that we had been close before I had been placed in stasis, but I just couldn't remember. It was frustrating that I couldn't remember what felt like had been a very important part of my life.

I spent nearly half an hour looking for some shoes or something that I could wear on my feet. I didn't know what the world outside this room looked like so I wanted to make sure I was properly prepared. I was about ready to give up when I noticed there were drawers on the sides of the examination table that my clothes had been lying on top of. I began opening the drawers and sorting through them before I finally found a pair of brown boots that eerily resembled my old ones and a pair of socks.

Obviously, someone had expecting me to come back to consciousness eventually.

I quickly laced up the boots and walked toward the stark white door that would, hopefully, lead me to the outside world so I could travel to Cosmo Canyon like Reeve said I should. I had no clue how many years had gone by so my best bet was getting out of this room and finding civilization.

I opened the door and peered out, finding the corridor completely black. I stuck my head out of the doorway and looked both ways before stepping out. I was getting ready to close the door behind me when small circular lights started flickering to life to my right.

Yeah, someone had definitely been waiting for me to wake up. But the question was who?

I followed the small lights left and right down the long hallways before coming to a set of large doors. Light was spilling through them, making a wide smile stretch across my face. I ran toward them and burst through into the outside world, breathing in fresh air for the first time in a long time.

I looked around for a few moments and realized that I was in the ruins of Midgar. The wreckage was covered in a thick layer of overgrowth, signaling that more than a few decades had passed, and I began to despair. What if so much time had passed that even Red XIII was gone? Who would I turn to then? I fisted my hands in the fabric of my sweater and took in a deep, calming breath. Knowing that Reeve had isolated me from the rest of the world so no one could bother me while the mako cured me made a sense of peace fall over me.

I sighed and glanced around with unease, wondering exactly how I was going to get out of this place. Midgar had probably changed drastically when Meteor destroyed it and time was also a factor to consider. After a moment of regaining my bearings, I took a deep breath and trekked down to the lower plate to see if I could find a route through one of the slums to find an exit door. It took a couple of hours, but I finally managed to find one and left Midgar.

I stopped once I reached the grassy portion of the plains so I could rest for a moment and try to find which way Kalm was located. I plopped down into the grass and scanned the horizon, spotting Kalm right where I remember it being, along the shoreline. I decided to sit and rest for a few more minutes before getting up and starting my journey to Kalm.

When I escaped from Midgar, by the position of the sun it looked to be about mid-afternoon, but by the time I arrived in Kalm the sun had already begun to creep behind the mountains. As I entered the town, my eyes widened at how much it had changed. Big, beautiful houses filled the streets and expensive looking cars raced down wide paved roads. The well that had been in the middle of town was now a very large fountain. The quaint seaside town from my memory was no more.

"Do you need help, miss?"

I jumped when a voice suddenly appeared next to me and looked over with wide eyes. "Excuse me?" I asked, not really hearing what he had said.

The young man smiled. "Do you need some help?" he repeated.

"Oh, can you show me where the inn is?" I asked, chuckling nervously. "I'm a little lost."

He nodded. "It's right over there," he said, pointing to a large hotel that resembled the one I remembered only slightly.

I thanked him, mentally kicking myself for not paying better attention, and opened the door, stepping inside the hotel. I glanced around the lobby as I went toward the front desk. Of course, this place wasn't the original inn, but the atmosphere reminded me of it a lot.

A young woman looking to still be in her teens looked up at me and smiled. When her eyes met mine a frown graced her eyebrows, but only lingered there for a few seconds before she cleared her throat and shook her head as if to get rid of whatever she was thinking about. "How may I help you?" she asked, the smile returning to her face.

"I just wanted to know if I could get transportation to Cosmo Canyon?" I asked hopefully, stuffing my hands in the pockets of my sweater.

"Oh, of course!" she said happily, pulling a piece of paper out from under the desk. "I'll just need your name."

I bit my lip, kind of nervous about telling her who I was. I still had no clue how long it had been since the Meteor incident, but I was pretty sure that people still may know about me and I didn't want to draw unwanted attention to myself. The girl glanced up at me expectantly, her pen poised above the paper ready to write my name down, and I sighed heavily, not having another alternative. "Tifa Lockhart."

She started writing my name down in her curvy script, but after only taking down two letters of my first name she snapped her head up, staring at me with wide eyes. "I knew I've seen you somewhere before!" she exclaimed, jumping back and pointing her index finger at me. "I've been learning about you in my history class! But you were lived over three hundred years ago! How are you still alive?!"

I gaped at her, staggering backwards like she had reached across the counter and struck me. Three hundred years… Reeve's estimation had been a severe understatement. I was in a world full of strangers and the only other one of my team members that I knew for sure was alive was Red XIII.

I shook my head, shaking myself out of my stupor. "It's a long story."

She nodded vigorously. "I've always wanted to meet you! All the history books said you died after Cloud so you have no idea how excited I am!"

My eyebrows furrowed. My last memory of Cloud before I went into suspended animation was nothing big. I saw him a week before and he had no clue that I was sick or that I would be kept alive in a tube of mako for who knows how long. I had confused that he hadn't shown up like everyone else did to tell me goodbye, but we didn't have the time to wait on him. I only hoped that he had found someone that filled the empty spot in his soul I never could.

I shook those thoughts from my head and stuffed my hands into my pockets once again. "I don't have any gil." I wanted to get off the subject we were on because it would just bring back memories that I didn't care to relive at the moment.

"Oh, that's alright," she replied, reaching inside a drawer and producing a key. "You can stay here tonight for free. There's a café upstairs. Guests eat there for free. When you get hungry you can show the hostess your key and she'll seat you."

She handed me the key and I smiled at her. "Thanks."

"No problem, Miss Lockhart."

"Please, just call me Tifa."

She smiled and nodded before I turned to go up the stairs. I found my room and entered, tossing my key down on the dresser and collapsed onto the bed, sighing heavily. My walk to town had exhausted me and all I wanted to do was fall asleep, but I knew that sooner or later I'd have to eat something.

I groaned as I lifted myself off of the bed, collected my key and walked out, trudging down the hallway. I was really sure where I was going so when I came to a pair of open double doors with two large ferns stationed on either side I couldn't help the sigh of relief that pushed past my lips. I walked through the doors and approached a small podium that was stationed off to the side.

An older woman was standing behind it and smiled when she saw me. "Good evening!" she greeted, cheerfully.

I kept my eyes on her for a moment longer before digging my key out of my pocket and showing it to her. "Oh, wonderful," she said, glancing down at a seating chart before meeting my eyes once again. "Please follow me."

I nodded and fell in step behind her, trailing her through the restaurant until she stopped in front of a two-person booth. I sat and looked up at her expectantly. "If you need anything just flag down one of the waitresses. I hope you enjoy your meal."

"Thank you," I said, returning her smile as best as I could.

I watched her walk away before getting up and making my way over to the buffet. I enjoyed a wonderful dinner, forgetting only momentarily the kind of situation I was in, then returned to my room, extremely exhausted. After returning, I stopped next to the dresser and took my room key out of my pocket, placing it on top. That prompted me to look down at my clothes, realizing that these were the only ones I owned now.

_Maybe Red XIII might be able to lend me some gil so I can buy more, _I thought, a sense of hopefulness making the corners of my lips turn up.

I sighed heavily then stripped down to my undergarments before climbing under the cool sheets, nuzzling my head into the pillow. I stared up at the lamp on my bed side table for a few moments before reaching up and turning it off. After tucking the blankets tighter around my body and praying that all of this was just some sort of crazy dream and it really wasn't three hundred years into the future, I fell into a light, restless sleep.


	2. The After Effects

**Chapter 2**

**The After Effects**

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**(Tifa)**

I awoke the next morning, in the same exact bed and the same exact room that I had fallen asleep in. I sighed, slowly scanning the room like I was waiting for it change into something else, before climbing out from under the warm sheets and redressing. I went into the bathroom and combed my hands through my hair since I didn't have a brush, wincing as I caught my fingers on some tangles, and looked down at the sink as I ran my tongue over my teeth.

_What I wouldn't do for a toothbrush right now,_ I thought, sighing.

After taking one last nostalgic look around the room, I walked out and went downstairs, passing my key back to the young lady I met yesterday.

"The airship will be arriving shortly," she said, smiling at me. "You can wait at the entrance of town for it."

I nodded and smiled back. "Thanks again."

"You're welcome," she replied, sending me small wave as I left the hotel.

I pulled the door shut behind me and took a deep breath, stuffing my hands in my pockets as I looked around. Kalm had changed so much that it was hard to distinguish it from the quiet little town I used to know. All the strange, new technology made me wonder if I would ever adjust to living in this new world. It almost felt like I had been blind and was suddenly gifted with sight. Exhaling slowly, I made my way out town and approached a small congregation of people that had gathered over by a small cleft of rocks. I decided to keep my distance and pulled the hood of my sweater up around my head, lest someone else recognize me.

After about ten minutes of staring down at the ground, I began to get antsy wondering if the airship was ever going to show up. Then, not but a few moments later, I heard the familiar sound of the approaching airship's engines before it emerged from behind a tall cliff. As the airship descended towards the ground, the group of people began to form a single file line in preparation to board. I slowly made my way toward them, keeping to the back. Once the airship landed, everyone boarded and went their separate ways.

I was greeted by a deck hand as soon as I climbed aboard. He happily handed me a map and I told me about a few of the things I could do during the trip. I was waiting for him to say something about how familiar I looked sometime during our conversation, but was slightly surprised when he never did. I ventured around for a while, the metal hallways reminding me of the Highwind. As I went past a small café, I found myself once again wishing that I had some gil. Sighing, I brought my eyes down to my map, looking for a place that I could sit or lay down in until I arrived at Cosmo Canyon and sighed in relief when I saw that the cabins weren't too far away from where I was. Not long after setting off, I found an empty cabin with a small bed and desk inside. A porthole like window was in the back wall and peered out, wondering if we had gotten underway yet.

I frowned in confusion when I saw that we were already flying over Junon. "Wow," I muttered to myself, backing away from the window. "I didn't even feel the ship take off."

I laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and mentally chastised myself. _It's three hundred years in the future, _ I thought, still coming to terms with that very real fact._ Of course the technology is going to be way more advanced than it used to be._

I was shaken out of my thoughts as a voice blared over the ship's intercom. "Good afternoon everyone! I hope you've had a pleasant stay so far. We'll be arriving at Cosmo Canyon in approximately two hours."

I frowned again, staring at the speaker in my room in bewilderment like confetti had randomly started spraying out of it. In the Highwind, it usually took us five plus hours to get to Cosmo Canyon. This new world would never cease to amaze me. I smiled and laced my fingers behind my head, getting comfortable while I waited.

The airship arrived at Cosmo Canyon on the appointed time and everyone that had boarded with me got off, immediately scattering. I stepped off into the dark red dirt of the canyon, grinning to myself, and power walked toward the town that was carved into the side of the cliff, anticipation flowing through me.

When I reached the bottom of the immense staircase, I craned my neck back and stared up at the Observatory, doing a double take when I found it was no longer there. The small canyon town that I had grown to love was no more. It had expanded considerably and could now be considered a bustling city. After reaching the top of the stairs and gasped, not quite believing what I was seeing. Everywhere I looked, large red cats almost identical to Nanaki vacated the canyon. A species that I thought for sure was long extinct had been revived. A large smile stretched across my face as I watched two small cubs play while their parents looked on not far away.

I stood stationery for many long moments just observing, astonished that I got to witness such a large number of these creatures in real life. After awhile, I let out the breath I didn't know I had been holding and decided to ask a few of the red cats where I could find Nanaki. I approached a young female that was lying next to her mate and kneeled down next to them. The female sensed my presence and opened her eyes, looking up at me expectantly.

I cleared my throat. "Um, can you tell me where I can find Nanaki?"

The female's eyes got wide and she looked over at her mate, whispering a few silent words before rising. "Please, follow me," she said, her voice delicate and soft. She began to walk off, but stopped short and turned around, cocking her head to the side. "How do you know Nanaki? I've never seen you here before."

I smiled. "It's a long story, but Nanaki and I are old friends."

She nodded, my answer seeming to satisfy her, before resuming escorting me to where Nanaki was. She led me into a cave and I was surprised to find the same small weapons stand that we had bought so many of our weapons from still taking up residence. I stopped to take a quick look at it and jumped slightly when I felt the young female gently nudge my hand with her nose.

"This way," she said silently.

"Oh," I said, looking from her sparkling yellow eyes back to the weapons stand with a sort of dazed look. "Sorry."

She nodded then continued on. At first, it looked as though she were leading me up to the Observatory and as I stopped to ask her where exactly we were going she hit the hidden switch that opened the door to the Gi Cave. I frowned as I stared into the opening. Why this creature would be leading me into this place I had no clue. I lowered my eyes to look at her and my puzzlement must have been obvious for she nodded her head, seeming to understand.

"There is nothing to worry about. Nanaki has moved the canyon's histories down here for safe keeping. The spirits of the Gi have long since passed. It is just an empty tomb now."

The way she said the cave was just an empty tomb made my skin crawl, but I nodded and followed her inside. Once we reached the entrance, the young female stomped her paw down on a rock then continued inside. I frowned, staring in confusion down at the rock she stepped on before turning and jogging to catch up with her.

"Why did you do that?" I asked, intently looking around the cave like this was the first time that I'd ever been there.

"It opens a secret room," she replied, looking over her shoulder at me.

"Oh."

We remained silent for the rest of the trek through the cave. When we arrived at the room where we fought the Gi Spirit, there was a new opening off to the right that I had never noticed before.

"He's in there," she said, poking her head in the direction of the door. She began to walk away when she stopped and looked back at me. "By the way, my name is Nikita."

I kneeled down and ruffled her fire red man. "Thank you for helping me, Nikita."

She closed her eyes and purred. "No problem," she said, grinning at me before leaving.

I watched her disappear before I turned and walked toward the entrance to the small cave that Nanaki was in. I peeked my head into the doorway before slowly stepping inside, examining the room. The interior of the cave was quite lavish. A large bookcase filled to the brim with books and all types of scrolls stood in the back. A large colorful rug was placed on the floor with a pile of pillows and blankets in the center. Sconces with brightly burning candles hung about the walls producing a meager source of warmth and minimal lighting. A small desk sat against the wall next to the bookcase, which Nanaki was presently occupying.

I smiled as I watched my old friend. He had grown considerably since the last time I saw him. His mane had grown longer as well, becoming a darker shade of red, and was decorated with more beads and feathers than I was used to seeing. The flames on the tip of his tail were brighter, resembling a torch. I recognized some new tribal tattoos that were on the right side of his body and down his back.

"Come inside or leave me to my – " he began, turning his lone yellow eye to see who was intruding on his privacy. As soon as he saw me, his speech immediately halted and his mouth dropped open. He jumped down from the bench he was sitting on and hesitantly made his way over to me. On instinct, I reached my hand out and let him sniff it. "Tifa?" he stuttered, still bewildered that I was standing in front of him.

I dropped to my knees and threw my arms around him, glad that I had found someone in this world of strangers that I knew. I still couldn't remember anything about the nameless man with black hair and red eyes in my memory. It was all a blank. A blank that I was hoping Nanaki would be able to help me fill.

"Tifa, how are you still alive?" he asked as I backed away from him. "I heard all of Midgar's remaining power ran out years ago."

I shrugged as I settled on the floor in front of him. "I think the room I was in was the only one that had power left."

"Well," Nanaki said, padding over to the pile of pillows and stretching out on one of them. "I'm sure you have many questions."

I nodded, sitting down next to him. "Yes, I do."

"Before you start asking, allow me to address something first."

I leaned forward slightly. "What is it?'

"When you woke up, you could remember all of us, correct?" he questioned, turning his head so he could fully see me.

I opened my mouth to say yes, but then the dark red eyes of the man I still couldn't remember flashed through my mind and I shook my head. "Almost all of you." Nanaki's ears flattened against his head and he looked away from me, more than likely already knowing of whom I was speaking. This made me frown. I moved closer to him, trying to get a better look at his face. "Red," I whispered, calling him by his nickname. "What's wrong?"

He shifted restlessly and kneaded the pillow he was lying on with his front paws, avoiding the questioning look in my eyes. I was close to grabbing his face and making him look at me when he got up from his place on the floor and pressed his front paw down on a rock near the entrance. A hologram flickered to life and molded to the exact pattern of the rocks on the wall.

Nanaki then walked back over and laid down next to me once more. He was silent for a few moments as flicked his tail back and forth. "We have much to discuss."

I nodded and scooted closer to him, leaning against his side. "I'm ready when you are."

He breathed in deeply then let it out in one big huff. "So you remember nothing of Vincent Valentine?" he asked, his tail nervously flicking back and forth.

My eyes widened slightly. "Is that his name? All I've been able to remember is what he looks like."

Nanaki nodded and looked down at the ground for a few moments before bringing his gaze back to me. "So I'm assuming you haven't not noticed the ring on your finger?"

"Huh?" I said, raising my left hand. My eyebrows pinched together when I found, for the first time, that there was indeed a ring wrapped around my finger. The band was made of yellow gold and a heart shaped ruby was in the middle surrounded by two dolphins. I squinted my eyes and stared hard at it. How did I never notice this before? "Did I get married?" I asked, looking back up at Nanaki.

He shook his head, causing all the beads that hung in his mane to clack together. "You were going to."

I frowned once more and looked down at the ring that adorned my finger. "Were Vincent and I going to get married?"

The large cat nodded. "After Meteor, Cloud, Vincent and yourself all moved to Nibelheim together. You lived in your old house and Vincent stayed with Cloud in his. Your lives were going pretty much the way they should have been until Cloud left. You were still in love with him at the time and you didn't take it very well. So, in your time of need, you turned to Vincent. He helped you get over Cloud and you eventually fell in love with each other. He proposed to you one month before you contracted the virus."

As Red told me the story of my past, I could actually picture what he was saying, but wherever Vincent was supposed to be, wherever he should have been, he wasn't. It was like he wasn't even there at all. "Red, I can remember everything you've just told me, but when I try to remember Vincent it's like there's a void where he should be."

Nanaki nodded his head knowingly. "Then the procedure was a success."

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. Nanaki had managed to alleviate the confusion I previously had, but now it had returned full force. "Procedure? What do you mean 'procedure'?"

The large carnivore inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly. "All of us were present when Reeve put you in suspended animation," he explained, going through the memories of that day. "Vincent must have been standing there in front of the tube you were in for hours, just staring at you. Reeve approached and Vincent told him to erase your memory of him."

"What? Why?" I asked, even more confused than before.

"Of course, you know the Chaos demon inside of him has granted him immortality. He knew he would probably still be alive when you woke up, but he didn't want you to feel obligated to him after you woke up."

"Obligated to him? Red, wasn't I going to marry him? Didn't we love each other? Wouldn't he want me to be with him when I woke up?" Now I was downright frustrated. Nanaki was only succeeding in totally befuddling my thinking even more with everything he was saying.

"Tifa, please understand that he wanted you with him more than life itself, but he didn't want his memory to cause you pain. So Reeve totally erased your memory of him."

"But I still remember him…kind of," I said, looking off to the side. "So my memory of him is still there." I paused and looked back at the red beast in front of me. "Will it be possible for me regain my memory of him?"

"Of course you can. The mako used only numbed the nerves in your brain that help you access that certain memory. Eventually the affect of the mako will wear off and you'll remember everything."

"Did Vincent know that?"

Nanaki shrugged. "He left before Reeve performed the procedure. None of us ever saw him again after that. It's like he totally disappeared off the face of the Planet. That is, until he showed up here at my doorstep much like you did."

"When did he come here?" I asked, excited that I might be able to find him.

"Oh, that must have been over a hundred years ago."

My shoulders visibly deflated, disappointment weighing them down. "How was he?" I asked reluctantly.

"Same as always. He still sports the black clothing and red cape. He told me that he had just returned from visiting you."

"He visited me while I was sleeping? If only I could have woken up when he was there." I hung my head, sadness drifting through me.

"Oh, yes, on many occasions. He made it a habit to see you every chance he could."

"Do you know where he is now?" I asked, lifting my head to look at him and hoping that he had some idea where I could find him.

Red sighed and shook his head, causing his beads to once again hit against each other. "He never told me where he was living and I never asked him. He stopped by long enough for him and I to have a short conversation before he left again. I'm sorry, Tifa, I should have asked him." Nanaki hung his head in shame almost as if he failed me.

"Nanaki, it's alright. It's not your responsibility." I gently squeezed one of his paws then looked off to the side, staring at the grown forlornly.

I felt so strange in this new world, almost like I shouldn't even be here. I could have easily been killed by all the mako that I was immersed in or I could have slept for the rest of my life or the rest of Nanaki's and Vincent's. I could have woken up one thousand years into the future.

I looked back at Nanaki who had a helpless look in his eye. "I have to find him, Red."

He nodded his head knowingly. "Yes, you must." He rose from his spot amongst the pillows and started to walk out of his chamber. "Come, we will plan."

I followed him out of the Gi Cave and back up into town. We entered a small hut where a group of elderly men were sitting around a table. When they saw Nanaki enter they immediately got up and bowed. Nanaki waved his paw at them. "Please sit down," he said, hopping up on a bench. "I'd like to introduce all of you to a very close friend of mine." Nanaki looked back at me and smiled, flicking his head to signal me to come closer. I sat down next to him on the bench and looked warily at the men who stared back at me with puzzled stares. "This is Tifa Lockhart."

Then, as if someone had flicked a switch, their faces brightened and they began chattering amongst themselves. I looked at Red and slowly leaned toward him. "They know me?"

"Of course. Everyone all around the Planet knows about what we did."

I nodded and straightened up. It was going to take me a while to get used to how everyone knew about me. One of the Elders looked at me. "Tell me, Tifa, were you the girl that was engaged to Vincent Valentine?"

I nodded and looked down at my finger before lifting it up so everyone could see the ring. "I think I still am." They were silent so I decided to ask a question of my own. "Please, can any of you tell me where he is?"

The Elders looked at each other with blank before gazing back at me. The one closest spoke up. "We are sorry, miss. We know nothing of Mr. Valentine's whereabouts."

I sighed and looked down with a sad look on my face. Nanaki took this opportunity to take the attention off of me. "Tifa is going to be taking a journey to find out where Vincent is. I am going to accompany her." I frowned and looked up at him, but said nothing. "I would like all of you to fill in for me and take care of things in my absence."

All the Elders nodded then left the table. I gave Red a funny look. "You don't need to come with me."

"I want to," he said, turning his yellow eye on me. "Vincent is my friend and I want to find him just as much as you do."

"Well," I said, getting up. "Where should we start?"

Red looked thoughtful for many long moments before speaking. "Let's go to Wutai. I'm close friends with the new Emperor. Vincent would spend a lot of his time there after you were put to sleep. Maybe he knows something."


	3. Where'd You Go?

**Chapter 3**

**Where'd You Go?**

* * *

**(Tifa)**

The trip to Wutai was more exciting than I thought it would be. Cosmo Canyon and Wutai had opened up a transportation service from one town to the other to promote commerce. It wasn't as fast as an airship, but it sure was more enjoyable.

Red padded up to me and sat as I looked out over the vast ocean. "How's your memory coming along?"

I looked down at my hands before gazing back out at the ocean, a sigh escaping my lips. "All the things you have told me are the only things I remember. I don't remember how he proposed to me and I don't remember him living with Cloud in Nibelheim. I can't even remember us finding him under the Shinra Mansion. Red, it's hopeless. I'll never get my memory back."

"Don't say that," the red feline said, nudging my hand with his nose. "You're on the path to regaining your memory. It will take time after all. You've only been awake for a few days. It could take months to totally regain your full memory of Vincent."

"That's the problem," I said, turning my back to the ocean and leaning up against the railing, glancing down at him. "I want my full memory back when we find Vincent because I want to be able to remember the things we've done together."

Red nodded. "I understand where you are coming from, but the mind is an enigma. Things such as this cannot be rushed."

I sighed again, staring down at my feet. "I know. I just wish I could remember him better."

* * *

**(Vincent)**

I walked nonchalantly through the cracked, rubble filled streets of Midgar, the wind blowing particles of dust against my legs and arms as I made my way towards the large pile of twisted steel that used to be Shinra HQ. I gazed up at the destroyed building, the gnarled pieces of metal resembling twisted fingers reaching up toward the Heavens, begging for redemption. My thoughts fluttered briefly to the beautiful woman sleeping within the unwelcoming depths of the tattered building and I sighed heavily.

"Tifa…"

Her name caused a taunt smile to pull the edges of my thin lips up. _Holy, I miss her so._

I missed everything about her. Her smile, her eyes, her hair, her body…everything beautiful about her I miss dearly. It has been so long since I've seen her, almost a hundred years. It pains me to visit her and gaze upon her face, knowing that she will never remember me but when I can't see her, my heart aches.

I sighed heavily and entered the dank hallway leading down into the depths of the secret laboratory Hojo built countless years ago. I knew the way by memory, having come here many a time to stare at my love's tranquil, sleeping face. Oh, how I've been tempted, too many times to count, to break her out of her mako filled prison! How I wish I could touch her again and feel her warm skin against mine. But, if I were to do that, she would most certainly die and causing the death of the woman I loved was not something I wanted to experience again. I would rather cut my heart out of my chest than cause a catastrophe of that magnitude again.

As I walked down the dark hallways, rats and other vermin hissed at me, scurrying away through cracks and holes in the walls. The toes of my boots clinked sharply against the concrete, reverberating savagely off the walls. The sound was an aggravating assault for I was accustomed to moving in silence. Here the empty halls and stagnate rooms prevented me from doing so.

I turned the last corner leading to Tifa's room and I frowned, an odd sight making me stop mid-step. The light from Tifa's room was spilling out into the hallway, chasing away the darkness that had lingered for so long. My heart began to hammer against the inside of my ribcage as I took off down the hall, anxiety fueling me.

_Could someone have found her and taken her? Could she have woken up?_ I thought, hastening my steps.

I came to a screeching halt in the doorway and my heart fell into my stomach at what I saw. The room was no longer filled with the pale green glow of the mako; instead, the liquid was pooled on the floor, stretching out in all directions as if it was trying to get away. Footprints and hand markings could be seen in the gelatinous mess.

My knees began to shake and, before long, I collapsed onto the floor, my knees no longer capable of supporting my weight. I suddenly started to get angry, a white-hot anger that I had never before experienced. As my anger grew, I could feel Chaos trying to break free and I almost allowed him to come out so he could ravage upon whatever or whoever he could find.

At the last possible second, I slammed my claw against the door frame, creating a massive dent in the metal. "No!" I shouted, repressing the feelings of rage and anguish that had caused Chaos to appear. "No! Back!"

After many long moments of struggling, I was finally able to regain control, pushing the demon into the farthest recesses of my mind. I took a deep breath and rose unsteadily to my feet, my mind suddenly beginning to race. What if something really had happened to her? What if she was out there somewhere scared and confused? Now I, more than anyone else, was aware of how capable Tifa is of taking care of herself, but three hundred plus years in the future is a long time to be detached from the world. I was asleep for only thirty, but Tifa had missed out on a whole lot more than I had.

I looked around the room once more before turning and swiftly making my way out of the Shinra building. Another visit with Nanaki was in order.

* * *

**(Tifa)**

Red and I arrived in Wutai early in the evening and even though I was excited to see how the city had changed I was absolutely exhausted. Red managed to get me a room in the Emperor's palace and told me that he would talk to the Emperor while I was resting.

.xox.

_I raised my balled fist to knock on Cloud's door, but stopped short when I heard hushed voices coming from the living room._

"_Vincent, I need to tell you something." I recognized Cloud's voice easily enough._

"_Hmm?" Vincent's deep baritone replied._

"_I…uh…I can't stay here any longer."_

_I frowned, but continued listening._

"_What do you mean?" Vincent asked a few seconds later._

"_I can't stay here. Aeris is out there somewhere waiting for me. Every night I've had the same dream and every night it always ends the same. Aeris is in trouble somewhere and she's calling out for help…she's calling out for me. I know she's out there somewhere. I have to go look for her."_

_I stood shocked in front of Cloud's door. How could he leave me like this? I told him I loved him. Isn't that enough?_

"_But you love Tifa, do you not?" Vincent asked the very same question that was swimming around in my head._

"_I do, but not like I love Aeris. Tifa has always been there for me like a sister would and that's the only way I can see her."_

_My knees began to shake. "So, that's all I am to you?" I whispered almost inaudibly. "A sister?"_

.xox.

I didn't wake up until the next morning and I felt magnificently rejuvenated. After lying in recollective silence for a few moments, admiring the sun's rays as they filtered through the opened shades, I heard shuffling on the floor next to my bed and leaned over to see Red staring up at me his lone yellow eye.

"Oh good, you're awake," he said, rising and stepping towards me. "The Emperor has requested to speak with you once you are ready."

I nodded as I sat up, pulling the sheets back. "What does he want to talk with me about?"

Red's tail twitched from side to side as he sat on the floor before me. "He has informed me about what has been happening with Vincent, but he prefers to tell you in person."

"Alright," I said, nodding as I slipped my shoes on my feet.

"Follow me."

Red got up and I followed him out of my room, trailing behind him. The inside of the Emperor's palace was beautiful. There were plants all over and pictures of the previous rulers adorned the walls. "Hey, Red, is there a picture of Yuffie anywhere?" I asked, searching each picture, hoping to find her.

"There is. She's more towards the front. Wutai has had many Emperors and Empresses since Yuffie passed it on to her son." Red stopped in front of a picture and turned to look at me. "This is her."

My eyes widened. She had grown her hair out and had it weaved in an intricate pattern around her head. She was wearing purple and gold colored robes, a wonderful accent to her eyes. "How old is she in this picture?" I asked, getting closer.

Red sat in thought for a few moments. "She was Empress of Wutai until she passed away at the age of ninety-five. I think she was in her thirties when this picture was taken."

"Wow, she looks so…grown up."

Red chuckled slightly. "Yes, Yuffie married shortly after Lord Godo passed away according to Wuteng law. She had just turned twenty-three, I believe," Red explained, looking up at the painting with a grin decorating his animalistic features. "Once her son was born she started taking her position a little more seriously. To this day, she is still considered one of the best Empresses Wutai has ever known."

"That's wonderful." I stared at her smiling face for a few more moments, my chest constricting painfully. "I wish I could see her again."

Red nodded and we stood in companionable silence until he stood and nudged my hand with his nose. "Come."

Red and I walked the rest of the way to the Emperor's throne room in silence. When we entered, the Emperor came immediately to greet us, a large smile on his face.

"Ah, Nanaki. Wonderful to see you again." Red lifted one of his paws so the Emperor could shake it.

"Emperor Nozomi." Red turned to me. "I'd like to introduce Tifa Lockhart."

"Ah, yes, Miss Lockhart," Emperor Nozomi said as he turned towards me. I bowed respectively then shook his hand. "Nanaki and Mr. Valentine have told me much about you."

"What did Vincent tell you?" I asked as the Emperor led me to a place where we could sit down.

Emperor Nozomi stretched his hand towards a large plush chair and allowed me to sit before he did. Red joined us and sat at my feet. "He mostly talked about how much he missed you. The man carries much pain on his shoulders. Every time I saw him it seemed as though he would be crushed by the weight of it." He paused for a moment. "He spoke of you very lovingly. He even showed me a very old picture of you that he keeps with him."

"When is the last time you saw him?" I asked, wringing my hands nervously.

"Not too long ago actually. Vincent seems to enjoy traveling and he does so quite often. He was here only a fortnight ago. He said he was going to visit a few places before going to visit you. He mentioned something about not seeing you in almost one hundred years."

I opened my mouth to say something, but Red cut me off. "Vincent actually told me once why he only went to see you every millennia or so," the red feline said, looking up at me before bringing his attention back to the Emperor. "Going to see her actually caused him more pain than anything else, but he said that the picture only satisfied him for so long."

The Emperor nodded. "So I can only assume with this knowledge that the other times Vincent went traveling he went everywhere but to the ruins of Midgar, correct?"

Red nodded. "He usually does not come to see me very often either. Vincent usually feels better when he is alone. Since I've known him, he's never been very sociable."

"I noticed that as well, but when given the chance, he can tell some magnificent stories. I cannot believe some of the things this poor man has been through. He actually shared with me a few of his stories about a professor named Hojo."

Red nodded knowingly. "Hojo is responsible for what Vincent is today. Has Vincent told you anything personal about himself?"

"He never went into detail about any of it. Although, I do find it strange that he seems to have lived so long."

"Hojo granted him immortality somehow and gave him the ability to transform into four kinds of demons at will."

The Emperor's eyebrows lifted. Obviously, Vincent had never gotten that in depth with him. "Interesting."

I took this time to say what I wanted to say before Red cut me off. "So, if he left here a few weeks ago and intended to go see me is it possible that I might have woken up before he got there?"

The Emperor shrugged. "Vincent did not share with me where he would be going so I cannot say for certain."

I bit my lip. Somehow a feeling in the pit of my stomach was telling me that Vincent had stumbled upon the room I was in, finding it empty. I put my hand on the top of Red's head. "I have a bad feeling."

He turned his lone yellow eye on me. "What do you mean?"

I wanted to tell him what I felt, but I knew I was probably just over reacting. I shook my head and leaned back into the soft cushions of the chair. "Oh, it's nothing. Just my wild imagination."

Red got up and approached the Emperor. "Thank you so much for speaking with us. Even though we'd love to stay it is time we moved on."

Emperor Nozomi rose, shaking Red's paw and my hand in turn. "No trouble at all. Please visit more. I would love to get to know you better, Miss Lockhart. I hope you enjoyed your stay."

I bowed to the Emperor. "I did. Thank you."

Emperor Nozomi bowed his head towards me and led us to the entrance of the palace. We said our last goodbyes then Red and I went to catch the next boat ride. "We should stop by Rocket Town next. I know Vincent would visit there periodically as well. Maybe someone has seen him."

"How are we going to get there?" I asked, as we excited the town.

"We can ride an airship there once we get back to Cosmo Canyon."

I nodded and stared down at my feet as we strode through the grass on our way to the shoreline, feeling no closer to the truth than I had been the other day.


	4. New Discoveries

**Chapter 4**

**New Discoveries**

* * *

**(Tifa)**

Red and I boarded the boat and I immediately went to stand by the railing, staring off into the endless expanse of sea. All of this just seemed so surreal. The image of my life that I had made up in my brain wasn't at all what my life ended up to be. All I wanted was to marry a handsome man that loved me and would take care of me; we'd have kids and live happily ever after like all the heroes in the fairy tales do.

Yeah, so much for my happy ending. That's all they ever were: fairy tales.

The trip back to Cosmo ended quickly enough and before I knew it, Red and I were on our way to Rocket Town.

"Is there anyone in Rocket Town that Vincent might know?" I asked, as I sat down on the small bed, exhausted. We had just gotten settled in our cabin for the few short hours of our flight and I was hoping to take a short nap.

"Yes, actually. Vincent has kept very close ties with Cid's descendents. I can't quite remember, but I think this one is Cid's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandson, if I remember correctly." Red grinned up at me from his place on the floor and lazily scratched an itch on his right ear.

My eyes widened. It was still taking me some time to get used to the fact that I was living very, very far into the future. "So, does he look like Cid at all?"

"Well, he still carries the blonde hair and blue eyes, if that's what you mean. Other things like his mannerisms are exactly like Cid's, along with his fascination with machines."

I rolled my eyes, not surprised in the least. "I figured. If any Highwind today didn't have a love for machines, Cid would be rolling in his grave right now."

Red chuckled. "Yes, you're right. Every single one of his descendents, male or female, have all possessed a love for them. I find it a little amazing."

"Yeah, same here." A tired sigh pushed past my lips as I slid underneath the blanket.

"Get some rest, Tifa," Red told me, curling up on the floor next to me. "I will wake you when we arrive."

I nodded and rested my head on the pillow, shielding a yawn behind my hand. "Alright, thanks, Red." It didn't take me long to fall asleep.

* * *

**(Vincent)**

I deposited my chocobo and quickly bounded up the steps of Cosmo Canyon, my heart literally in my throat. Never in all my life had I been so terrified, so utterly and morbidly terrified. I streaked through the town, earning confused glances from many of the different fiery cats and townsfolk alike. Almost all of them knew of me to some degree, and they were probably wondering what had me in such a frazzled state. My chest was tight against my pounding heart as I ran through the dusty streets and I was fearful that it might burst.

Townsfolk continued to shoot me weird glances as I blazed through the town with a crazy look on my face. I didn't bother stopping and asking any of them where Nanaki was, I was wasting enough time running to the Observatory as it was.

I blasted through the door, panting heavily. "Nanaki!" I yelled, hoping and praying to whatever god is out there that he would be here.

"He's not here."

My shoulders dropped as Nanaki's mate, Meera, stepped into the room followed by her three small cubs. "Where did he go?" I asked, striding towards her and kneeling in front of her.

"He only briefly returned here before leaving to Wutai. He had a young girl with long brown hair and red eyes with him. I didn't catch her name."

My eyes widened. "Are you sure that's what she looked like?"

She nodded. "Of course. Do you know her?" I pursed my lips and pulled out the only picture of Tifa that I owned and showed it to the yellow eyed feline. "She is someone special to you, yes?"

"Very special. She contracted a fatal disease over three hundred years ago and was put into stasis. The machine she was in was programmed to release her after she had been healed. Her memory of me was erased." I paused and closed my eyes. "Do you know why they were going to Wutai?"

She shook her head, her long mane swaying back and forth. "Nanaki only said he had important business with the Wuteng Emperor."

I sighed and rose to my feet. "Then that is where I must go. Thank you, Meera." I turned and left the Observatory, my heart doing somersaults in my chest. "Wait," I whispered to myself, stopping dead in my tracks outside the Observatory.

I had Reeve eradicate her memory of me because I did not want her to remember me. I did not want my memory to bring her pain if I had been killed before she awoke. But I am still alive and she is awake now. If her memory of me can be restored we can pick up where we left off. We can be together again. We can live the life that we had dreamed about.

I sighed and continued out of the town. My longing to be with her was destroying all rational thought. I would find her; I would no longer be alone.

* * *

**(Tifa)**

.xox.

_A heavy pounding on my door awoke me from a restless slumber. I groaned and slammed by pillow over my head, hoping that whoever was knocking would just go away. I had no desire to talk to anyone, even if the person banging on my front door was Cloud Strife._

_The incessant knocking was beginning to annoy me to the point of getting up and I was about to do just that when it stopped. I breathed a sigh of relief as I pulled my head out from under my pillow and snuggled back into it. Moments later, I was interrupted yet again as sharp clinking sounds bounced off my windowpane one after the other._

_Whoever it was, they were extremely persistent about getting my attention._

_I groaned again before stumbling out from under the covers and trudging downstairs, not even bothering looking out my window to see who was chucking rocks at it. I quickly unlocked the door and flung it open, an aggravated look plastered on my face._

"_Oh," I said, relaxing a small amount. Vincent was standing a few feet away, getting ready to throw another rock. Our eyes met for a second or two before he cleared his throat and tossed the remaining pebbles back onto the ground. I stepped aside and allowed him to come in. "So," I began as he sat down on my couch. "What's up?"_

"_I came to inform you of some rather…distasteful news."_

_My shoulders slumped; I knew exactly what he was going to say. I curled up in my recliner. "He left."_

_Vincent nodded, but uttered no words. He knew that saying anything else was not necessary._

_I sighed as I looked away from Vincent's face. Fresh tears started to well up at the corners of my eyes, but, try as I might, I couldn't stop them. I lifted my hands from where they were curled in my lap and hid my face. I didn't want Vincent to see me cry. I didn't want him to think I was weak for crying over someone that was never mine in the first place. Soon my strangled sobs resonated through the room and I wished I had been able to crawl into a dark hole and hide there until I regained control._

_I heard Vincent get up and I was convinced he was going to leave until I felt him kneel in front of me. I was so shocked I ripped both my hands away from my face only to meet a pair of concerned red eyes. He hesitantly lifted his right hand and brushed a lone tear from my cheek. I was so surprised by his actions that I almost didn't catch what he said._

"_There is no need to cry. I'm right here."_

.xox.

I awoke with a start and looked around forlornly. It only took a few awkward moments for me to realize that I was in a cabin on an airship that was heading to Rocket Town. Nanaki was sitting next to my bed and looked over at me just in time to see my confused gaze.

The red feline's ears laid flat and disappeared in his long mane. "Tifa? What's wrong?"

My eyebrows twitched, still a little confused about what exactly happened. "I'm not sure." I paused and took a deep breath. "It was like a dream, but then again it wasn't."

Nanaki's eye darkened, confusion replacing the worried expression from before. He hopped up on the bed next to me and lay down. "Tell me about it."

I sat up, still in a slight daze over what I had experienced. "It's happened before, but this time it was different. They were like memories. Memories of before I was put in stasis."

Nanaki nodded his head knowingly. "I believe that is how you will regain all your memories; by reliving them in your dreams."

"I think so too." I scooted against the wall and drew my legs up, squeezing them to my chest. "I just wish there was some way it could go faster. Even after that dream or memory the only thing I really remember about him are his eyes."

The fiery beast sighed as he moved closer to me so he could lay his head in my lap. "Things such as these take time. The memories you are experiencing are only the first step. Once the mako completely drains from your mind, more memories will come. Give them time."

I nodded and scratched behind Nanaki's ears playfully. "I'll try."

We only had to wait a little while longer until the airship docked in Rocket Town. As we disembarked, I stood in front of the airship in awe at the sight of the town in front of me. Rocket Town had also flourished and was now a kind of space base. A rocket, even larger than the one that we launched at Meteor, stood in the center of town. I figured they would probably never use that one because it was too close to so many people.

"That large rocket in the center of town is being used solely as a monument." Red answered my doubt filled question for me as we entered the bustling town. "They built it with the hopes of one day launching it, but they got a little sidetracked after construction was complete."

"What did they get sidetracked with?" I inquired as I gazed up at the enormous rocket.

"Other technical aspects such as automobiles and airplanes. The world was changing rapidly and was constantly in need of newer and newer technology. Rocket Town was the only place these things were coming out of so, naturally, the townsfolk here got distracted in their visions of grandeur."

I nodded absentmindedly as we passed the rocket. This was yet another example of how far behind I was. "Red?" I asked, turning my attention away from the rocket.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think it was a good idea to keep me alive?"

Nanaki stopped in his tracks and looked back at me with a baffled expression. "Tifa, how could you say something like that?"

I sighed. "I just feel so out of place. Red, I came from a time when airships and rockets were still relatively new and chocobos were the main method of transportation between cities. It's like everyone around me is moving so fast and I'm just standing in their way."

He sighed and turned his eye away from mine. Long minutes passed before he brought his gaze back to me. "I know the transition will be hard, but I also know you are strong enough to survive it. You were always a survivor, Tifa. You always had a way of keeping a level head in tough situations. I have faith in you."

I smiled, honored that he would say something like that to me. "Thanks, Red, again."

"I'm just speaking the truth, Tifa," he said, grinning. He got up once more and continued on his way past the rocket. I stood and stared at it for a few more moments before jogging off to catch up with him.

"Well, if it isn't the ol' sun spot himself!"

Nanaki had led me to Cid Highwind's old home, but I was expecting to find someone that looked nothing like the Cid Highwind I used to know. The man that was standing in the doorway looked almost exactly like the weathered old pilot. He had the same scraggly blonde hair and sky blue eyes along with the ever-famous cigarette hanging precariously from his partly closed lips.

"What brings you here, fuzzy?" he asked, his arms akimbo as he stared down at Red. His eyes fell on me. "And who's your lady friend?"

"Conrad," Red said, bowing his head in greeting. "A pleasure as always." He paused and turned his eye towards me briefly before looking back at Cid's look-alike. "This," he began, a smile in his voice. "is Tifa Lockhart."

Conrad stared at me silently for a while before one corner of his mouth turned up. "No shit," he said, laughing only slightly. "How are you alive?"

"Well…" I paused and turned my gaze toward Red. He nodded once, coaxing me to continue. "After the whole ordeal with Sephiroth and Meteor, I contracted a disease and the only way to cure me was to immerse me in mako. The process is very slow. I just woke up a few days ago."

"No shit," he repeated, plucking the cigarette from his mouth and stamping it into the earth. "I thought the only Avalanche members that are still alive are this fuzz ball here and ol' Sunshine."

I shot a confused look in Red's direction. His keen animal eyes caught my distress. "Cid started calling Vincent 'Sunshine' shortly after we released him from his slumber. I guess he's passed that nickname down just to aggravate him."

I nodded my understanding and turned my attention back to Conrad. He had plucked another cigarette out from some forlorn place and was in the process of lighting it. "So, I suppose you've come here to ask about ol' Sunshine, am I right?" He looked up at me for an answer.

I nodded. "Do you know anything?"

Conrad took a long drag from his cancer stick and held the smoke inside his lungs for a few short seconds before blowing it all out his nostrils. "Well, I would," he began. "but the fact of the matter is, I haven't seen him in at least ten years. The guy has a thing for being out in public, I guess." He shrugged nonchalantly then took another long drag before blowing the smoke once again out of his nose.

My face fell briefly as I turned to look at Red. He gave me an encouraging smile, at a loss to say or do anything else. He walked toward Conrad and looked up at him. "Thank you for your help."

"No problem. It's my pleasure." He smiled at Nanaki then looked to me. He stared into my eyes briefly before coming to stand directly in front of me. "If Valentine comes by I'll tell him you were here. Don't worry, girl, you'll find him."

I smiled. He looked so much like Cid it wasn't even funny. I leaned forward and gave him a soft hug. "Thank you, again."

"Eh, think nothin' of it. Go find him."

I gave Conrad one more hug before Red and I set out once again for the airship docks. As we were getting ready to enter, I stopped dead in my tracks, frozen in place. Red looked at me with a gaze that held both confusion and slight concern.

"Tifa?" he asked, his ears pressed firmly to the side of his head. "What's wrong?"

"Nibelheim," I said. "We have to go to Nibelheim."

The confused red beast in front of me cocked his head to the right out of pure curiosity. "Why Nibelheim? I was going to suggest we go to Junon."

I shook my head. "No, not Junon. Vincent never liked large crowds of people." My eyes widened at the statement that had just flown out of my mouth. Where did that come from? I took a deep breath and shook it off. "I just know we have to go there. I have a feeling."

Nanaki considered my hasty outburst for a few moments before nodding his head. "Very well then. To Nibelheim it is."


	5. Slipped Away

**Chapter 5**

**Slipped Away**

* * *

**(Vincent)**

"Well, I'll be damned!" Conrad exclaimed. "If it isn't Sunshine himself! How the hell are ya?"

I rolled my eyes inwardly, but tried my best to put together a half-assed smile for him. Conrad was so much like Cid it ceased being humorous years ago. "I would be much better if you would stop calling me 'Sunshine'."

He stepped aside as I strode past him into the very same house Cid Highwind himself lived in back in the time of Sephiroth and Meteor. Conrad closed the door and signaled for me to sit down at the table. He plucked his cigarette from his mouth and stamped it out in an ashtray then proceeded to open the fridge and produce two bottles of his favorite brand of beer. He popped the caps off both bottles and handed one to me. I accepted it and idly took a sip.

"So Vincent," he said, all jokes aside for now. "What brings you here?" I stayed silent staring down the neck of the beer bottle. "Hold on," Conrad said, sticking his hand palm out. "Don't speak too quickly. I might not hear all of what you have to say."

I closed my eyes and rolled them behind my closed lids. I was preparing myself to tell him the reason for my sudden appearance, but he beat me to the punch.

"This wouldn't be about the two visitors I had this afternoon, would it?" he asked, leaning back on the back legs of his chair and taking a swig of his beer. My eyebrows twitched slightly, but, besides that, I made no other outward gesture showing that I was interested in what he was talking about. If Tifa had been here he would tell me if he so desired. After I didn't answer him, he continued. "Ol' fuzz ball showed up with a friend this afternoon."

My eyebrows twitched once more as I looked at him, this time, with interest in my eyes. "Who?"

Conrad's lips turned up into a mischievous grin. The silence between us was deafening and I was getting ready to ask again when he leaned forward, letting the front legs of the his chair return to the floor. "Tifa Lockhart."

My heart seemed to cease beating as I fell back into my chair heavily. She had been here. She had been here and I had missed her…again. If only I had been a little faster she would be back in my arms right now. I slowly brought my hands up to my face, concealing it only for a short while before dragging them down and allowing them to fall back into my lap. I took a deep breath and looked at Conrad.

"When were they here?"

"Hmmm," he mused, leaning back once again. "Well, they dropped in while the wife was out buyin' groceries, so around four or five o'clock."

"Where is Julia?" I asked, looking around.

"She's out with a couple of her girlfriends. She don't get out much so every now and then goin' out and eatin' with someone who isn't her husband does her some good."

I chuckled under my breath. Conrad and Julia's relationship was a lot like what Cid and Shera's used to be. They argued and, on occasion, threw things at each other, but they were happy.

I cleared my throat and stared at Conrad. "How is she?"

Conrad leaned back on the hind legs of his chair once again and inhaled deeply from his shortening cancer stick. The silence around us remained complacent while he, presumably, searched for the right words to convey to me of Tifa's well being. The smoke billowed out from his mouth, swirling upward like some kind of ghostly apparition before disappearing completely.

"I've seen pictures of the girl before. The girl in the pictures that I've seen looked totally different from the one I saw today. She acted like she had no idea what was going on. I mean, this girl isn't even supposed to be alive, Sunshine. No offense, but she's supposed to be dead. You're not supposed to be alive either, but that's different."

I rolled my eyes inwardly once again. Conrad seemed to take enjoyment out of telling me that I was a walking abomination. He told me every time I showed up at his door; every time I came to grace him with my presence he insisted on shoving it in my face.

"Besides that," he continued after a short paused. "She looked fine. A little out of it, yeah, but she looked okay. Probably coulda benefited from something to eat, but they ran out before I even got a chance to invite them in."

I leaned back and stared at the beer bottle I held in my metal hand. The overhead light gleamed off the bronze of the curved digits. Funny how something such as this could streak the coldest of fears into the hearts of the poor souls of the mortals I encounter. This abomination never frightened Tifa, though. She was rather intrigued by it in fact. That was the one thing I loved most about her. She took my imperfections and looked at them perfectly.

"So you have no inclination about where they are headed next?" I asked, preparing myself for his answer.

The old pilot placed his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling for a few moments in wonderment before sighing. "Nope. They just up and left. Sorry I can't be more help, Vince."

I took one last drink from the beer Conrad had given me before standing up. "It's alright. I will find her in time. It was nice seeing you." I pushed my chair in before striding towards the door. Conrad jumped up from his seat and pulled the door open for me.

"Yeah, it was nice seeing you too. You need to drop in more often. You know Julia likes seeing ya too. Maybe after you find Tifa you and her can come back."

I nodded. "We shall see. Goodbye, Conrad."

"See ya later, Sunshine."

I sighed as I made my way out of town to where I left my black chocobo, Maverick. The black bird was pleased to see me as I approached. He fluttered his short, flightless wings and warbled a greeting. I scratched the soft, downy feathers of his neck and gazed into his dark eyes.

"Well, Mav," I said, climbing onto his back. "We're off once again."

* * *

**(Tifa)**

"Red," I began as we entered Nibelheim. "Does Vincent live here?"

"He does. He restored the old Shinra Mansion and whenever he is not traveling he spends his time there."

"Do you think he's there now?" I asked, stopping.

The red beast turned around and shook his head. "Unsure. He very well could be. Are you prepared to see him if we do?"

I gazed at my feet indifferently for many long moments. Was I really ready to face a man I was still trying to remember? Would I be able to handle it if I somehow hurt him by not knowing who he was? A part of me was anxious about seeing him and the other was scared, scared about not knowing what to do or say when I saw him.

I took a deep breath and looked back up at Red. "I think so. There are still so many things about him that I don't remember, but I think I'm ready."

"That's good. I know that Vincent will be very happy to see you again." With that, the red beast got up and we continued through town to the Shinra Mansion.

We stopped outside the gate of the old mansion. As I stood there staring at it, bits and pieces of long forgotten memories began replaying themselves before my very eyes like I was watching some kind of weird movie. I must have been standing there staring wide-eyed watching the images for some time because the cold sensation of Nanaki's nose brought me out of my trance.

He cocked his head slightly, looking up at me curiously. "What did you see?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. They were more memories, I think."

The red beast smiled knowingly before we walked up the stone walkway that led to the front door. He stopped in front of the door and looked up at me expectantly. I stood staring right back at him before it dawned on me that I was the only one out of the two of us that could open the door. Feeling extremely stupid, I reached out and turned the knob, pushing the door open.

I know Red told me that Vincent had restored the old mansion, and I could vaguely remember what it looked like, but I wasn't expecting to see it restored to its original state. The hardwood flooring was waxed to spotless perfection and a dark red rug ran the length of the stairs. There were unlit sconces hanging from the walls along with colorful and very elaborate paintings. An ornate chandelier hung from the ceiling, but I wasn't sure if it worked or if it was more for decoration.

"Well," Red sighed, breaking the silence. "Looks like he is not here. Help me find some matches so we can give this place some illumination."

I watched the glow of Red's fiery tail recede as he trudged into a side room. I stood, staring off into space, for a little while longer before setting off myself. I happened upon the kitchen and was rummaging through a drawer when I heard Red call me from the front room.

"Tifa!" he called, his voice muffled. "I found some matches!" He turned towards me as I emerged from the kitchen and grinned at me, revealing a book of matches held tightly between his sharp teeth. "They were sitting on a desk in that room." He nodded his head in the direction of the room he spoke of before dropping the matches into my outstretched hand.

I set to work getting all the sconces lit while Red explored. As I lit the sconces, my mind began to wander. If Vincent wasn't here then where could he be? Was he out searching for me? Has he already been to Midgar and found me gone? Too many questions and not enough answers; answers that only Vincent could provide were he here.

I would never be completely whole until I found Vincent, I realized as I finished lighting the last of the sconces. Vincent was the only one that could help me regain my lost memories, for reliving them in my dreams was taking far too long. He was the key to my past and possibly the only future I have here on this planet. If I couldn't find him my life would be nothing, but a passing daydream. I'll be doomed to spend the rest of my life on a planet that I barely know among people I know even less.

I jumped as I felt Red nudge my side. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt you?" he asked, his fiery tail swishing back and forth.

I shook my head. "No, it's okay. I was just thinking."

Red's lone yellow eye shimmered knowingly. "You seem to do a lot of that these days. Come. It's getting late and you need your rest. Vincent's room is upstairs. I do not think he will mind if we spend the night in it."

I followed him up the stairs to Vincent's room. There were sconces here as well so I pulled out the matchbook and lit a few of them. I pulled my shoes off my feet, folded the large, fluffy comforter back on Vincent's bed and settled into the cool sheets. There was a large easy chair in the corner of the room near the window that Red designated as his sleeping spot for the night.

"Goodnight, Tifa. Sweet dreams."

I closed my eyes for a few seconds before opening them once more. "Red?"

"Mmm?" he mumbled, his eye still closed.

"Do you think Vincent is looking for me?"

Red pealed back his eyelid, once more revealing his yellow eye that almost seemed to glow in the dim lighting of the room. "I can't say. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't." He paused and, for a second, I thought he was finished. "But, I can tell you one thing, Tifa. If Vincent happens upon Midgar and finds you gone, he certainly won't turn a blind eye to it and think nothing of it. You are the first woman he's loved since he lost Lucrecia all those years ago. Vincent Valentine may seem incapable of emotion at times, but I, and everyone else in Avalanche for that matter, could tell how much he loves you. I wouldn't be the least surprised if he was searching for you as we speak."

I smiled before closing my eyes once more. "Thanks, Red. I needed that."

"Anytime, Tifa. Anytime."


	6. Crash and Burn

**Chapter 6**

**Crash and Burn**

* * *

**(Tifa)**

.xox.

"_Vincent, why are you here?" I asked as I gazed up at the endless blue sky._

_He shifted slightly before speaking. "Because you invited me to come with you."_

_I laughed and looked at him from where my head rested on his stomach. From my vantage point, it made it rather difficult to see his facial expression, but I could vaguely see one corner of his perfectly chiseled mouth curved up in one of his trademark smirks._

_I turned over on my stomach and draped my arms over him. "I'm trying to be serious."_

"_Are you?" This remark earned him a smack on the chest. "Alright, I will try to be serious. Ask me again."_

"_Why are you here with me? You could have left months ago like Cloud, but you didn't. Why?"_

_Vincent averted his eyes away from mine and focused them on the sky above. I stayed stationery, waiting patiently for him to put his thoughts into words. I always thought he looked much more at peace when he was thinking about things other than his dark past. I noticed early on how he was tormented by it so I tried keeping him busy. Because we both lived alone we helped each other with our respectable housework. Having the company of the other took our minds off of our problems, if only for a little while. But I knew that sometimes during the night the demons that shared his body with him would torment him through all the hours of the night. I admired Vincent for putting up with the things that would drive a completely sane person utterly insane._

"_I couldn't very well leave you here to confront your problems alone. I didn't want you to end up like me: a phantom the world has left behind. You deserve better, Tifa. You deserve better than Cloud."_

"_What do I deserve, Vincent?" I asked, leaning closer to him._

_He gazed into my eyes for many long moments. "The question is, Tifa, do you know what you deserve?"_

.xox.

When I awoke Red had already wandered downstairs to explore the house more extensively. I found him in the room where the secret passage to the basement was located. He was examining the wall so closely he didn't notice me walk in.

"Red?" I whispered, not wanting to spook him and end up having all two hundred pounds of claw and teeth being hurled in my direction.

His ears perked up at the sound of my voice. "Ah, you're up," he said, looking back at me. "I'm having some difficulties opening this door. I was getting ready to come ask for your assistance."

I stared at the gray stone wall passively. "It leads down to the basement, right?"

"Yes," the red beast replied. "This is actually where we found –"

"Vincent," I finished for him.

Now Red fully turned toward me. "Correct again. I presume it's all coming back?"

"A little more, yes. Now let me help you with this door."

I pressed my hands against the cold stone and pushed against it as hard as I could. I tried numerous times to force it open, but all my attempts ended up being futile. Just when I was getting ready to give it another try, Red spoke up.

"I think Vincent may have tried to seal the basement off from the rest of the house. I was inspecting the door rather closely and it seems as though he was almost finished."

"I wonder why he was sealing it off," I wondered, taking a few steps away from the wall.

"Well, if you remember, the basement holds many bad memories that Vincent would prefer to forget. I guess sealing it off from the rest of the world is his way of shutting it out of his mind as well, almost like it never existed."

I stood with my arms akimbo, staring at the wall like I could open it with sheer force of will. Red was right. Vincent wouldn't have sealed off the basement if he didn't have a good reason for it, but I was curious.

I took a deep breath and backed up a few more steps. I readied myself momentarily then jumped up half a step on my right foot, launching my left leg out at the heavy stone door. My foot struck it right in the center, sending dust and debris flying into the air. I approached the wall once more and pressed firmly against the stone. This time, it opened without a problem.

I looked back at Red with a triumphant smile on my face. He chuckled as he got up off his haunches and walked through the opening. "Looks like you haven't forgotten that."

I chuckled a little myself at Red's comment before following him down the stairwell. The planks lining the walls had rotted even further during the passage of time. I had to take extra care while traversing them so I wouldn't send myself or Nanaki plummeting down to the basement floor. I began wondering to myself as we made our descent. What if Vincent found us down here? What if he was mad at us for opening the basement when he worked so hard to seal it?

I yelped in surprise when I suddenly bumped into Red. I gingerly placed my hands on his back to steady myself. He looked back at me with a cautious look in his eye. "Careful. The boards are a little weaker here. Let me go first to test their strength."

I nodded and lifted my hands from his back so he could continue forward. I took a few steps back and firmly gripped the wall with my left hand as I watched Red carefully tap the planks with his front paws before putting pressure on them. I continued to watch him as he made his slow progress over the rotting planks, having to lean over quite a bit to keep him in view.

He reached the bottom of the stairwell and looked up at me. "Okay, Tifa, it should be safe for you. Start coming down. Take your time and go slow."

I nodded once more. "Okay," I mumbled as I began inching my feet forward, keeping my left hand on the wall for support.

The old planks moaned underneath my weight prompting me to go even slower and be even more cautious. It seemed like there were hundreds of miles between the basement floor and me. I tried not to look down because every time I did my vision would swim and I would start to get nauseous.

"Red?" I called out.

"Yes, Tifa? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but is there a reason I should be scared right now?"

He was silent for a few seconds. "I remember Vincent telling me about the time that you slipped and fell. He said you fell about fifty feet down the stairwell."

I stopped cold. "Did I really?"

"If I remember correctly. I also remember him telling me how frightened he was."

I took a deep breath and softly placed my foot down on the next plank. "That was before I contracted the virus?"

"A few days before, I believe."

Talking to Red gave me a burst of confidence and I proceeded at a faster pace. "Did I break – "

My speech was cut short as the planks below me snapped. I clawed at the wall, trying to find a cleft in the stone that I could hold onto, but all was for naught. I tumbled down through the stairwell, breaking off a few boards here and there with my arms and legs. I heard Red call my name and I think I screamed as I was falling. My back hit the hard packed earth of the basement floor, jarring my insides and stealing the breath from my body. As gravity continued to bring my body back down toward the earth I heard my head crack against the ground. I began to feel nauseous, but that feeling was taken away as I lost consciousness and slipped into the darkness.

* * *

**(Vincent)**

I stopped Maverick on the outskirts of Nibelheim and swung myself from his saddle. I stood next to him, reigns in hand, and gazed at the quiet mountain town. Out of all the other cities and towns on the planet, this one town nestled in the mountains was the only one that remained the same. Nibelheim had much better technology, of course, along with more businesses and houses, but it didn't hold the advanced quality that Junon or Rocket Town possessed. It was simply…left behind.

I sighed heavily and pulled Maverick toward the Shinra Mansion. I put him in the stable that I built for him, gave him fresh water and greens then entered my home through the back door. I was exhausted and very much needed some sleep. After leaving Rocket, I traveled to every other town that I had not previously visited, searching high and low for Tifa or Nanaki, for I knew that if I found Nanaki I would most surely find Tifa. I slept very rarely, only stopping when I thought I would fall off of Maverick's back from my extreme fatigue. Immortality may be one of the many "gifts" my body is graced with thanks to Hojo, but I still get tired like any "normal" human being.

I began unbuckling my cape as I entered my room and almost had it completely off before I spotted a stark contrast of white against the black sheets of my bed. My eyebrows furrowed as I finished unbuckling my cape and tossed it over onto the easy chair in the corner before leaning over and grabbing the piece of paper that was laid atop my pillow.

My eyes widened and my hands started to shake as I recognized the scratchy handwriting that belonged to none other than Nanaki. I am not even sure one could call it handwriting. Over the years he had gained the ability to hold a pen or pencil in his mouth and write that way. I still found it remarkable for it is not every day one finds a large, red feline hunched over a piece of paper with a pen hanging out of its mouth trying desperately to make the words legible. On some occasions, it is a rather comical sight.

_Dear Vincent,_

_I hope this letter finds you well and I apologize for not being able to give you it in person for I have a rather…dire situation placed on me at this time. As you already may know, Tifa has awoken from her slumber and has been with me. She has been searching for you for many days now and may I be the first to tell you that she is very eager to see you once again. But because of the procedure you asked Reeve to perform on her all those years ago, I'm afraid she does not remember much of you. Her memories are coming back to her little by little and hopefully soon she will remember you completely once more and you both will be able to pick up where you left off._

_Onto more serious matters, I am unsure of when you will get this, but Tifa and I visited here, hoping to find you. We were heading down into the basement when the planks of the stairwell gave way and she plummeted to the ground. She was knocked unconscious, but I was grateful to find that she had not broken anything in the fall. I called for a transport from Cosmo Canyon to come pick her up and she is now on her way to the canyon as I am writing this letter. The medical staff there will take good care of her, I assure you. Hopefully you will come to Cosmo Canyon when you get this. I, and Tifa, await your arrival._

_Sincerely,_

_Nanaki_

A wave of nausea hit me and I had to sit down on my bed to quell its rage. I gazed down at the paper clenched in my hand with wide eyes. She had fallen again. My shock began to burn away and quickly turned into anger. The only reason I sealed the basement off was to keep her safe. I didn't want her falling down that damned stairwell ever again. I didn't want to risk losing the woman I loved from a freak accident. But because of the disease that invaded her system only a few days after her fall, I guess one could say that I did lose her in a way.

My cape had already been securely fastened around my shoulders and I was making my way down the stairs before I even knew what I was doing. My fatigue and intense need for sleep had been pushed into the back of my mind as soon as I read the last line of Nanaki's letter. I flung open the back door, being rewarded with a surprised cry from Maverick who had just begun to settle down for some much needed rest. He looked up at me from his place amongst the hay of his bedding, his jet black feathers fluffed out; his way of expressing how displeased he was with this little interruption of mine.

As I was reaching out to open the stall door, I hesitated. Maverick was even more tired than I. He had been to the one doing all the work transporting me to each town. He deserved to rest. I let my hand fall back to my side. "Never mind, Mav. I will find other means of transportation."

He warbled softly before closing his eyes and stuffing his head under one of his short wings. One corner of my mouth curled up at Maverick's odd sleeping habit and I watched him sleep for a few moments before my legs pulled me in the direction of town. Because Nibelheim was so much farther behind everything else, chocobos were still widely used by the people here. The townspeople would sometimes use airships and cars for trips out of town, but only if they were traveling to Costa del Sol or Corel. There was a commutable chocobo stable near the town proper that required only a small fee to rent one of the chocobos. I had not rented one since I got Maverick, but, then again, I have never worked Maverick so hard before as to need the service of a rented chocobo.

I quickly tossed a ten-gil coin to the chocobo handler and grabbed the first saddled and bridled chocobo I could get my hands on. The chocobo handler shouted a hasty thank you as I disappeared out of town. I looked back quickly and waved nonchalantly then faced forward and spurred my rented chocobo as fast as it would go towards Cosmo Canyon.

_I'm coming, Tifa! I'm coming!_


	7. Found You

**Chapter 7**

**Found You**

* * *

_A couple days after Nanaki's hasty departure from Nibelheim…_

Nanaki gazed with concern pouring from his lone eye through the glass window of Tifa's private hospital room. His chest felt tight, as though someone was slowly tightening a vice around him, threatening to squeeze the very life from him. For the first time in his life he felt truly helpless to the events around him. At least with the Sephiroth and Meteor threat he knew what he had to do, what everyone had to do together. Now, he was standing in front of a crossroads that seemed to have a million different directions and he had absolutely no idea which way he could go.

"Doctor Taylor, you are certain there is nothing you can do?" He looked over at the man who had been caring for Tifa the second she entered the hospital's emergency room. Nanaki knew him personally. He had come to the hospital here ten years ago and was currently head of the medical staff for the seventh year running.

Doctor Taylor sighed, running a hand through his wavy blonde hair. "I am sorry, Nanaki. As far as our civilization has come this facility still does not have the resources to fight off the Metamora virus. We have to fly her to Junon. The doctors there have discovered a cure five years ago and will make sure she recovers fully. You said she was one of the first ones to contract the virus correct?"

"Yes, she was. And the only way to fight off the virus back then was to flood her system with raw mako for a very long period of time. Reeve Tuesti reassured me that it would purge her system of the virus." The red beast sighed heavily and turned his head to look back through the glass window, locking his gaze on Tifa's motionless form.

Doctor Taylor sighed as well, once again running his hand through his hair. "How long did it take Reeve to discover this kind of cure?"

"We presumed that the virus was in its final stages before Reeve figured it out. We barely got Tifa immersed into the mako in enough time."

"Reeve was correct in the way he went about it, but Tifa would have needed to be immersed in the mako for several thousand years for it to totally eradicate the virus from her system. Raw mako is extremely slow moving and the Metamora virus is very swift. True, the mako slows the virus down considerably, but the time it takes to completely kill it is far greater than the time she has already spent. Would you like me to put her back in mako stasis instead of sending her to Junon?"

"No," Nanaki replied quickly. "No, I don't want to do that to Vincent. I am sure he is more than aware of Tifa's state. He's waited three hundred years for her to awaken. I'm not going to make him wait for thousands more."

"Very well. My team can have her prepped and ready for the flight to Junon in a matter of hours. If you will excuse me, there is much to be done."

Dr. Taylor had begun to quickly walk away before Nanaki stopped him. "Please keep Tifa sedated until she has been treated. She's been through a lot and I don't want to put her through anything else."

"Of course," the doctor replied, nodding and turning away once more.

Nanaki looked away from the retreating form of Doctor Taylor and gazed through the glass to the girl lying just on the other side, heaving a tired sigh for what seemed the hundredth time that night. His heart was heavy with the thoughts of what Vincent would do when he found out the very virus that took her away from him three hundred years ago had once again started to tighten its deadly grip on her. He had even started to regret leaving that note for him in Nibelheim. Maybe if he thought about it a little more he probably could have prevented Vincent from finding out about Tifa's condition until she was completely healed, for he knew the second Vincent read that letter he would be on his way to Cosmo Canyon before he even had a chance to sit down and rest. He sighed once more, temporarily fogging the glass in front of his nose. He would just have to find a way of calmly explaining Tifa's situation to Vincent without him losing control of himself.

_Lifestream help us._

* * *

**(Vincent)**

I jumped off my rented chocobo so quickly I nearly sent the poor bird careening into the side of the corral. Luckily for the frazzled bird, the handler was right there to grab hold of his reigns and jerk him out of harm's way. The chocobo let out a warble of protest at being jerked so violently, but, once it realized what it almost hit, forgave the handler and nuzzled the side of his face as it was led into a stall. And, by that time, I was too busy bounding up the steps of Cosmo Canyon to notice the look of disapproval that the handler shot at my back.

I could have cared less really. I wasn't some sort of insensitive animal abuser, but the whereabouts of my fiancé matter a little more to me than an over grown canary. If that had been my chocobo it would have been a different story. I would have taken my time in making sure he was safely secured in his stall before racing toward the observatory.

Every cell in my body was praying and hoping that Tifa was up in the observatory safe and sound, waiting for me to arrive. My heart began to race even faster than before as warm thoughts of once again being able to hold her in my arms filled my head. It had been so long since I touched her, so very, very long, and the anticipation of being able to touch her once more made my skin tingle.

I practically flew up the ladder that led to Nanaki's observatory and almost busted the door clear off its hinges when I slammed into it. Meera, who was lying on their couch with her cubs lying amongst her, snapped to attention when I flew through the door, her teeth bared and a low growl rumbling deep in her chest at the intrusion. As soon as she realized who had broken through her door, her animalistic features filled with grief. My hands started to shake on impulse and I was almost afraid to ask her what was wrong.

"Vincent, I…" She stopped and looked away from me, inhaling deeply through her nose. A wave of fear fell over me and I knew right then that whatever it was it most certainly wasn't anything good.

I closed the distance between us and sat next to her, making sure to be careful of her sleeping cubs. "Meera, what is it? Please tell me."

"Vincent," she repeated, staring up into my eyes. "I can't." She shook her head, making her small mane and the beads decorating it swish from side to side. "I can't tell you."

With that, she got up and trotted into the star display room. I took a deep breath and followed her in, hell bent on finding out what had upset her. After entering the dark star room, I found her huddled in a secluded corner of the room with her back turned, trying to hide in the shadows, but her fiery tail betrayed her. As I got closer to her, I could see that her strong, muscled frame was shaking slightly.

"Please Vincent," she said, her voice soft. "Don't make this any harder on me. I will not tell you anything. Go to Junon. Nanaki is there. He is the one that will tell you everything."

I stood there in stunned silence for a few moments. What was Nanaki doing in Junon? Surely Tifa didn't have to be transported to Junon because she fell down the stairwell. There must have been something else wrong with her that the Cosmo Canyon doctors couldn't take care of. It must have been something that needed more advanced medical attention. Something like…

As it dawned on me, my body felt like it had gone completely numb. I couldn't feel that my knees had begun to shake and I couldn't even feel myself breathe. It was the Metamora virus again. It had to be. Reeve's cure didn't work and now she could very well die without me beside her. The cold, icy hand of terror closed around my heart. I almost collapsed to my knees, but stopped myself and quickly turned around, leaving Meera alone as per her request.

I swiftly left the canyon and asked the chocobo handler for another chocobo. He went and fetched me a different one than the one I had ridden, for that certain chocobo was still getting over the shock I had unknowingly put it in. I swung myself onto my new chocobo's back and took off for Nibelheim. I was extremely exhausted and needed food and rest badly. I would set off for Junon in the morning. I needed to be alert and rested when I was finally at Tifa's side. She will need me to be her strength more than ever.

* * *

**(Tifa)**

I kept dropping in and out of consciousness so quickly, I could barely grasp on to anything that was going on around me. I knew I was in a hospital; I could tell by the overpowering smell of disinfectant around me and the beeping of the monitors at my bedside. Every now and then I would feel Nanaki's cold, wet nose touch my hand and I would quickly become frustrated because even though I would concentrate with every fiber of my being to try and lift my hand to touch him, I didn't even get the slightest twitch from all my hard efforts.

I had no idea what was wrong. All I could remember was falling through the stairwell in the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim and then nothing else. I must have hurt myself pretty bad if I was here in a hospital. Why else would I be here?

The sensations I was experiencing around me were almost exactly the same thing I felt while I was in the mako pod. I felt safe and warm, like nothing bad could get me or any harm would ever befall me as long as I was there, but I also knew that I wasn't in Midgar in some isolated room of the Shinra Tower immersed in mako anymore.

I jumped as I heard new voices inside the room, but, of course, my surprise towards the voices didn't show because my body was still numb. I tried to make out the low mumblings and when I thought I heard Nanaki's voice beside me my mind blacked out and I slipped into unconsciousness once again.

Nanaki stared out the window of the medical transport that was sending Tifa to Junon. The fiery end of his tail twitched erratically back and forth, his claws were constantly scraping the metal floor and his hackles were slightly raised, making him look a lot larger than he actually was. He was very aggravated and it was definitely showing. No matter how hard he begged and asked, the medical advisors on board wouldn't let him stay with Tifa.

They labeled the area of the transport she was in as a "clean" room and said that if he should go in the whole area would be contaminated and would probably make Tifa's condition even worse than it was. He was already on edge from everything that was happening and the attitude of the advisors was almost enough to push him into a fit, but instead he sat staring out the window of the small sitting area in between the cockpit and the "clean" room fuming.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping that it would help to calm him down, but none such luck. He was still as aggravated as he was five seconds ago. He swore in his mind that if any harm befell Tifa while she was out of his sight he would hold those buffoons personally responsible. Vincent would probably never forgive him if something happened to her and the large red cat would never forgive himself either.

Nanaki's long wait aboard the medical transport came to a welcomed end as he saw Junon suddenly appear in the distance. He breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that he wouldn't have to spend very much longer on this damned ship. Even though he had ridden on the Highwind a multitude of times, the red feline still felt significantly out of place on an airship. He had grown up keeping all four of his paws on the ground and felt much better when he wasn't thousands of feet in the air.

Junon Hospital had a place where the ships could dock so it would make transporting the patient into the facility that much easier. The ship rocked momentarily as it connected with the air lock and he was met with a welcome rush of cool air as the door opened and depressurized the cabin.

He exited the transport and stood off to the side to wait for the advisors to bring Tifa out. To keep the outside elements from getting to her, she was encased in a glass hover bed. Nanaki was still amazed at how they functioned. All a person had to do to operate one is stand about five feet in front of it and walk at a steady pace. The sensors along the front followed the movements of the person exactly. The hospital in Cosmo Canyon had not yet had a chance to be graced with such an object, - the transport that Tifa had been carried in had been supplied directly from Junon) – but Dr. Taylor told him that if his plans went accordingly their facility would have some within a year or so, which made the fiery red beast quiet happy. Cosmo Canyon had come so far, both in its technology and the species that had almost become extinct. To look out the Observatory window and see so many of his species all over the canyon filled him with such a strong feeling of kinship that he had never known before.

"Nanaki?"

The red beast was a little embarrassed at being caught off guard for there was only one person that could scare him so bad it would make his red fur turn white and that was Vincent. That man could very well sneak up on a fly.

"Ah, good evening Judith," the feline said, sighing in relief. He knew the head medical officer for the Junon Hospital so well they were both on a first name basis with each other, but then again he had always kept close ties with all of his friend's extended family, even Reeve Tuesti's.

Upon first glance, Judith Larson looked nothing like one of Reeve's descendants. She had blonde hair with bright blue eyes that looked almost like ice and was shorter than most women her age, but still held some of Reeve's character traits. Being able to be an effective leader was one of them.

"Ah, so this is Tifa Lockhart," she said, staring down at the young girl held in the glass case. "The pictures in the text books when I was in high school don't do her justice. She's gorgeous."

Nanaki smiled and looked through the glass at her as well. "She has definitely been through a lot. A lot more, I think, then anyone on this entire planet."

"Well, I'd like to know how a young woman that is supposed to be dead is here in this time."

"Let's take a walk and I'll explain everything to you."

"Alright." She turned towards the advisors that were patiently standing by Tifa waiting for their instructions. "You know what to do. Take good care of her."

They nodded and set off down the hallway with Tifa's glass case in tow behind them.

"So, let's hear this story about your friend."

Nanaki repeated Tifa's long story to Judith, who walked calmly beside him nodding and humming as he spoke. The hospital had a large courtyard in the middle of the complex that had trees and greenery all over and that is where they were when he finished. Judith stood in recollective thought for many moments, pondering what Nanaki had told her. Finally, she looked up.

"So, it's true the reason she is here today is because she was previously afflicted with the Metamora virus?" she asked, disbelief still in her voice.

"That is correct. She is three hundred years out of her time because of this disease."

Judith smiled. "Her affliction will end here and now. There are a few tests the lab has to run to make sure she is healthy enough to be administered the cure. If all goes well, she should be able to receive it tomorrow."

"Wonderful," Nanaki replied, a beaming 'smile' on his face. "Thank you for all your help, Judith. You have no idea how much I appreciate it."

"The pleasure is all mine. I'm just about as sick of this damned virus as everyone else on this planet. It's been around for much too long, in my opinion."

Judith began to turn away to get on with her business, but Nanaki stopped her briefly. "Oh, will you be able to let Tifa come out of the anesthesia or do you have to keep her asleep?"

"Waking her would not be wise. In the final stages of the virus the patient is burdened with excruciating pain throughout their entire body. Almost like hot magma is pumping through their veins. As you may already know, Tifa would have had to be in mako stasis for a few thousand years in order for it to eradicate the virus from her body. These past three hundred only put it in stasis as well. Now that she has been awake and the mako is slowly draining from her body, the virus is picking up where it left off. If I was to awaken her…well, you know what would happen," Judith explained, deep sorrow seeping into her icy eyes.

Nanaki nodded, a sullen look on his animal features. "Yes, I am aware of that part of the virus. I just want to know if she is alright."

"We'll fix her up, Nanaki. You don't have to worry about a thing."

"Thank you, Judith. For everything. I am in your debt."

"No thanks needed," she said before rushing off.

* * *

**(Vincent)**

I walked through Junon's hospital doors as calmly as I could given the circumstances. The clerk at the front desk smiled at me and when I told her who I was, she picked up her telephone receiver and had a hushed conversation with someone on the other end.

"Will you go wait over there for a few minutes, Mr. Valentine?" she asked sweetly as she set the receiver back in the cradle.

I nodded and tried not to let my agitation and impatience show. Nanaki was here with Tifa so he must have told someone that he was expecting me. I sat down in one of the badly cushioned chairs that were sporadically placed throughout the lobby and tried to keep myself from fidgeting. I had never been so nervous or frightened in all my life. The only thing that could compete with this was when I discovered the room that Tifa had been held in for three hundred years empty.

As I sat waiting for Nanaki, I silently cursed myself. Why did I let Reeve do such a thing to her? Why did I give in?

_More importantly, why am I asking myself such stupid questions? Oh, I know._

I was in love, and I still am. I wanted to cling to any kind of hope that maybe she would become well. I wanted to spend longer than just a few short months with her and I was willing to do anything, _anything_ that would give me just a shred of hope to hold onto. Tifa is the first woman since Lucrecia that I have loved so passionately. She looked at me like I was a normal human being and not some sort of freak show. She completed that missing part of my soul that was ripped away so long ago. I was dead to the world and she breathed life back into me. She gave me something to live for. I didn't feel lonely anymore.

There was no way that I was going to let go of something like that. No way.

"Vincent?"

I snapped my head up and was very relieved to see Nanaki. I got up and briskly walked toward him. "Nanaki," I said, my voice relatively shaky. "It's good to see you again."

"It is good to see you again as well. It has been quite a while, hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has." I paused briefly to take in a deep breath. "Enough with the pleasantries. Where is she?"

The red feline sent me a knowing glance and turned around. "This way."

I calmly walked down the white tile halls of the hospital with Nanaki a few paces ahead of me. A feeling of dread kept welling up inside me and I had to fight to control it. I just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Finally, the silence was just too much to handle. I just had to say something to get my mind off my paranoia. "So, how is she?"

Nanaki slowed his pace to fall in step next to me. "As far as we know, she is doing fine. The virus still has her in its grip, but because the doctors have her in a chemically induced coma none can really say how she is doing. They are going to administer the cure to her in a few hours. You got here just in time."

We entered the ICU of the hospital and Nanaki led me over to a large glass window. As I looked inside it, my heart started racing and my palms became sweaty.

There she was.

I stepped closer to the glass and placed my shaking human hand on the cool, transparent surface. My bottom lip started to tremble and I had to catch it in my teeth to stop it.

She looked so...breathtakingly beautiful. So much different than the old picture and looking at her suspended form in a mako container. There are no feelings on the planet that could describe what I was experiencing at that moment as I looked upon her for the first time in centuries. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. It was like some imaginary force was holding them in place. After what felt like ages staring at her, I finally managed to rip my face away from the glass pane.

"Can I go see her?"

"Hold on. Let me ask."

Nanaki padded over to a nurse station and jumped up so his front paws were resting on the top of the desk. He chatted with one of the nurses for a few moments before letting his front paws drop back down to touch the floor. He returned to my side and looked up at me with a smile on his face.

"Go ahead, Vincent. You can go spend some time with her until they administer the cure."

I had never moved so fast in my life.


	8. Not Again

**Chapter 8**

**Not Again**

* * *

Nanaki sat on the other side of the glass window and watched with bated breath Vincent's long awaited reunion with Tifa take place. He couldn't believe that he had been lucky enough to witness this himself. For the last three hundred years, he told himself that he would probably never get to see Tifa again or see them reunited. Even though the scene unfolding before him was drastically different than anything he could have imagined, he still felt exceptionally privileged.

For the longest time, which felt like hours to Nanaki, Vincent just stood beside Tifa's bed and gazed upon her in the warmest of ways. His eyes shifted back and forth between the two, his claws scraping the floor in anticipation as he waited for Vincent to make some kind of movement. The fire red feline tried to decipher the expression on Vincent's face, but the enigma that is Vincent Valentine never let what he was truly feeling inside to show.

He slowly sat down in the chair located next to her bedside, refusing to take his eyes off of her for even the briefest of moments, and gingerly placed his human hand over hers like if he touched her too roughly she would disintegrate like an old piece of ancient parchment. With his golden claw, he unbuckled the straps of his cape and let it fall away from his face before lifting his hand and gently sweeping the pads of his fingers across her cheek.

What happened next stunned and completely shocked Nanaki so horribly that he almost fell over.

It happened gradually. Ever so slowly, Vincent's hard as stone composure began to crack. It started with his hands. They began to shake and the tremors traveled up his arms and through the whole of his body until he was convulsing all over. He leaned over and rested his elbows on his knees, carefully folding his hands in front of his face to hide it, but, without his cape and cowl to protect him, Nanaki could plainly see tears streaming from his eyes.

Nanaki's jaw hit the floor.

Vincent was crying and, what was even stranger, it didn't seem as though he was trying to stop himself from doing so. He sat as still as a statue, his eyes never leaving Tifa's sleeping face, and let the tears fall. Nanaki squeezed his lone eye shut and pressed his ears firmly against his head, the raw power of Vincent's anguish palpable in the air. The red cat's chest hitched involuntarily and, try as he might, he couldn't fight the tears threatening to fall.

Seeing Vincent in such a vulnerable, fragile state was remarkable. He never even knew that Vincent had the ability to cry, let alone feel such powerful and unconditional love for another. Vincent was truly a changed man and Tifa Lockhart had brought about that change, whether she knew it or not.

He turned his eyes away from Vincent and looked upon Tifa, peacefully sleeping through all that was happening around her. Oblivious to the man that was sitting not three feet away from her and was more than likely still oblivious to how much she affected him.

"Is Mr. Valentine alright?"

Nanaki jumped, bristling slightly at the unwelcome interruption, and quickly rubbed his eye with the back of his paw before turning to the figure beside him. "Yes, yes he is. He's just...a little overwhelmed at the moment."

"I was told to administer the cure to Ms. Lockhart by Judith." The anesthesiologist held the syringe up for Nanaki so he could see it.

"Now may not be the best time."

The young man nodded and walked towards the nurse's station to wait. Gazing back through the window, Nanaki sat in revered silence for only a few moments longer before reluctantly entering Tifa's room.

* * *

**(Vincent)**

Nanaki's presence went unnoticed to me until his deep red paws settled on the other side of Tifa's still form. I felt Chaos stir inside me and could hear the echoes of this laughter in my mind. He made the displeasure he felt over someone sneaking up on me well known before retreating back into the darkest recesses of my subconscious. Even after Chaos' silent rebuke, I did not acknowledge Nanaki. He would understand though. Nanaki was one of the few that actually understand me.

The index finger of my human hand played with the engagement ring I had given her so long ago. It certainly didn't feel like three hundred years since I first slid it onto her finger. The florescent lighting above flashed and reflected off the heart shaped ruby and I found myself mesmerized by it, much like the way Tifa had mesmerized me, which is one of the reasons why I bought it. I could still remember the look on her face when I proposed to her. Fresh tears blurred my vision and, even though Nanaki had been a witness to my fit of emotion earlier, I covered my eyes with my claw as a few lingering tears slid down my face.

I grabbed a corner of my cloak and wiped my face free of my tears and the trails they left. I would have used my human hand, but I refused to let go of Tifa's even for that. As a matter of fact, I never, ever wanted to let go of her for the rest of my life.

I tentatively shifted my gaze away from Tifa's face and looked at Nanaki, wondering if he had seen me cry. _Of course he did_, I thought. _How could he miss it? I was only sitting a few feet away from him. _His lone yellow eye was fixed on Tifa's face as mine had been. His gaze held nothing but worry and deep concern.

"Why isn't she awake?" I dreaded the answer I would hear, knowing deep down that I would only hear more bad news.

"I'm sorry to inform you of this, Vincent. I wish it wasn't true myself." He paused to collect his thoughts. "It's back."

I heaved a great sigh and fell back into my chair. My assumptions had been correct.

Nanaki remained silent for many long moments before taking a breath. "I'm not sure why exactly, but I think the mako that was supposed to cure her only put it in a dormant stage. After the mako was no longer there to keep it dormant, it slowly started coming back." Nanaki drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, preparing himself to continue. "In the final stages before death, the Metamora virus causes the victim excruciating pain, like molten metal has replaced the blood pumping through their veins. In some cases that I have heard about, the pain alone can cause death."

I swallowed heavily. "What has killed the other cases?"

The red beast looked down at the bed, locking his gaze on the white sheets. "When the virus inflicts death, it floods the body with a bacteria that causes a swift and painless release from this world."

Swift and painless. A death that would be welcome in the eyes of the one that suffers. My grip on Tifa's limp hand tightened. She would not meet such an end this day. "When will they give her the cure?"

"They are actually ready right now. I'll go let them know." He slid his front paws off the bed and trotted out of the room. I watched as he addressed a young man holding a syringe that was standing idly near the nurse station. Nanaki and the young man exchanged a few words before walking into the room.

"Hello, Mr. Valentine. I'm Eric, the anesthesiologist." Eric reached out his hand and because my claw was the only one unoccupied, I offered him my left hand instead of my right. Eric stared at it for a few seconds before taking it and giving it a brief shake then quickly releasing it. He held up the syringe so I could see it."This, Mr. Valentine, is the Metamora virus cure. I'm going to administer it through her IV. Once it works its way through her entire body, it's going to wake her up. From there it will take about a minute or so for us to figure out if it is working." He paused to take a deep breath. "If something goes wrong, I'm going to push this button here," he said, indicating a blue button on her monitor. "This will flood her system and put her back into a chemically induced coma so we can find out what went wrong."

My pulse began to race as all the possible things that could go wrong attacked my brain. Half the possibilities scared me so horribly I could physically feel the cold, icy hand of fear close around my racing heart. I looked over at Nanaki, hoping to find some kind of support and was grateful when I received it. He smiled and nodded confidently, almost like he knew nothing would go wrong.

I turned my eyes back to Eric who stood ready to inject the cure into her IV tube and nodded. "Go ahead."

He nodded and slowly squeezed every drop of the life giving cure into her body then stood back, calmly waiting, ready to push the blue button at any sign of trouble.

The time that elapsed seemed to go on forever, like the cure knew of my anticipation and was purposefully taking its sweet time. After only a few seconds, I began to get exasperated, thinking something was wrong. I looked at Eric, wondering if his thoughts mirrored my own when I heard a tiny intake of breath.

My eyes whipped back down to Tifa and my heart soared when I saw her gorgeous wine colored eyes open, but I noticed immediately that something wasn't right. Her hands were gripping the bed so tightly her knuckles matched the color of the sheets and her beautiful face was twisted up into the most horrid reflection of pain and suffering I had ever seen.

When she started to scream, I lost it. I heard Eric tell me to hold her down so she wouldn't hurt herself, but I already had my hands firmly clasping her shoulders. Once she recognized who was holding her down, tears of joy starting pouring from her eyes.

She recognized me. The memory that Reeve erased from her mind had truly come back. That thought alone almost brought more tears to my eyes but I wouldn't cry in front of her when she needed me to be strong for her.

"Vincent!" She screamed as a fresh wave of pain attacked her body. "Help me, Vincent! Make it stop! Please, make it stop!"

"Tifa, they gave you the cure." I had to fight to keep the traitorous waver out of my voice. "You'll start to feel better soon. Just wait."

The seconds that ticked by felt like hours as Tifa lay thrashing and crying in pain before I heard Eric speak.

"It's not working. I'm putting her back to sleep." His finger quickly pressed down on the blue button and I could instantly feel her muscles begin to relax.

Without wasting another moment, I leaned over her and placed my hand gently on her cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered with a small smile.

I promptly closed the distance between us and pressed my lips against hers. My elation at once again feeling her lips against mine was short lived. I felt her body go completely lax under me and wished for only a moment that she was still awake.

* * *

Watching what was happening to Tifa during that short period of time was the most horrifying thing Nanaki had ever witnessed in his extremely long life. He had been witness to many things that had scared him so bad it turned his hair white, but never had he been as terrified as he was before today. He could do nothing while Vincent held Tifa down except sit there and watch, frozen with fear. He wanted to turn his eye away from the scene before him. He didn't want to watch a very dear friend of his suffer not five feet away from him when he is helpless to stop it, but it was like some invisible force was holding his lone eye on Tifa, forcing him to watch.

"Eric, go get Judith. Hurry." The red beast didn't even look at the young man while he spoke to him. His gaze was stuck on Tifa's now calm and unconscious form.

The young anesthesiologist turned and bolted from the room, leaving Vincent and Nanaki alone. Vincent had sunk back into his chair and resumed holding Tifa's limp hand in his own, staring at her with anguish clearly painted all over his face. Instead of leaning on the bed, the red beast decided to go sit next to Vincent and wait for Judith to arrive.

Vincent remained quiet even after they had been left alone. Nanaki knew the one question that was swirling around in the gunman's troubled mind for it was bothering him as well: Why didn't the cure work?

Nanaki only had a guess. Because Tifa was the first to contract the virus maybe Tifa's particular strand had more time to mutate and change then one from this age and time. If that was truly the case then they were going to have turbulent times ahead of them. The red beast bowed his head in sadness, his heart heavy with worry for two of his closest friends. Now a cure might never be found for Tifa. He turned and looked at Vincent with his lone yellow eye warily almost like Vincent could hear that horrible, hope crushing thought.

He gently shook his head, making the beads in his mane clack together in an effort to purge his mind of those negative thoughts. Now was not the time to be looking on the dark side of things. Judith was an extremely smart woman. She would find a solution.

"Well, gentlemen," Judith said as she entered Tifa's room. "Sounds like we have a little bit of a problem on our hands."

"What do you mean?" Vincent asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

"Ms. Lockheart isn't cured. The treatment didn't work on her. I'm glad you sent Eric to get me because now I'll need Mr. Valentine's permission for my staff to conduct a few tests." Her bright blue eyes settled on Vincent in an inquiring stare.

The gunman nodded. "Run your tests. Just find a way to cure her, please."

"Oh don't worry, Mr. Valentine, I will. I'm just running these tests to see if my hypothesis is right." She smiled warmly at both of them before quickly leaving the room.

* * *

**(Vincent)**

I sat idly staring out the cafeteria windows, slowly stirring my cup of coffee with the index finger of my claw, a small deli sandwich sat untouched beside my Styrofoam cup. Nanaki had forced me to leave Tifa's room to get something to eat. He pointed out rather bluntly that even though I'm immortal, I'm still a human that needs food to function.

I couldn't very well prove the red beast wrong. I was indeed rather hungry but the sight of the pathetic looking deli sandwich that looked like it had been sitting out for quite a while made my hunger disappear almost as quickly as it had appeared. My thirst had disappeared as well for my coffee sat as untouched as my sandwich.

I had never developed a taste for coffee anyways.

It had almost been a week since the failed attempt to cure Tifa. Judith and her faithful staff had run test after test and was very good at keeping both me and Nanaki in the dark about their progress. Nanaki had managed to extract the reason from a protesting Judith.

He and her staff were competing against each other to see who solved the mystery first. Nanaki could barely contain his laughter as he told me this. Frankly, I found nothing funny about the matter. They were putting my fiancé's life on the line like it was something that could be thrown away like a piece of rubbish.

I would have liked to hunt Judith down, wrap my claw around her skinny neck and tell her to stop treating the woman I loved like a lab specimen, but Nanaki discouraged me from doing so, reminding me that Tifa was in no danger as long as she was in a coma.

The main source of my frustration and anger was over the fact that I had waited three hundred years and finally found her after weeks of searching, only to have to wait longer for her to be cured of a disease that Reeve said would be eradicated by the mako. And Judith was one of his descendants?

Suddenly, I wasn't so confident in the woman's intelligence.

But, life, I found out many years ago, is mainly a waiting game and cannot be rushed.

I sighed deeply and tossed my untouched food and drink into the nearest trash can and left the cafeteria. I had been away from Tifa for long enough.

I met Nanaki in the hall outside the cafeteria. He was sitting up against the wall with a sullen look on his face, gazing about like he had taken a wrong turn and was now hopelessly lost. The crestfallen expression on the red beast's face drooped even further and turned into a look of utter defeat when he saw me. As I approached, his large shoulders slumped heavily and his head bowed in shame. An immense feeling of foreboding fell onto my shoulders. Whatever news he was burdened with wasn't good news and the kind of news, I speculated, that I wasn't going to enjoy in the least.

"It's not good, Vincent." Nanaki kept his head turned away from me as he spoke, not wanting to meet my gaze for if he did he wouldn't have the gumption to continue talking. "Tifa's dying."

Those two words hit me in the face with such force that I staggered back a few steps and would have fallen to the floor if I hadn't hit the wall. "What?" I wheezed, breathless. The force of those words had also managed to knock the breath from my body.

"It seems that what I said earlier about Tifa being safe while in a coma was incorrect. Tifa being in a chemically induced coma doesn't make much of a difference to the virus. It slows it down considerably, but it doesn't totally stop it. Judith doesn't know how much longer she has left, but she figures it's not much."

"Well, have they made progress? Please tell me they have." I was desperately trying to stay on my feet, but the more time I spent upright the harder it became for my legs to support me until I eventually ended up on the floor next to Nanaki.

"They have indeed made progress. Judith did actually. She found out from the tests her staff did. All they have to do is modify the cure."

"How long will that take?"

"They started yesterday and hope to be finished later tonight or tomorrow morning."

Relaying all this information to me must have exhausted the will of the great red beast for once he was finished speaking, his front paws slid forward until he was lying down. Then he did something that I had never before seen him do. He buried his nose and face beneath his paws, looking like he was hiding his sensitive nose from an offensive smell, but I knew it was because of the grief that he felt.

Several nurses, male and female alike, came and offered Nanaki and I help, but I waved all of them away, asking that we just be left alone for a while. Some of them were so persistent that I had to push aside the thick folds of my cloak, revealing the leg holster that held the Cerberus. One glimpse of the three barreled hand gun and they retreated as fast as they could without another word.

After sitting and watching the hospital staff hurry by, Nanaki managed to compose himself first. He rose on shaky legs and turned towards me, nudging my arm with his cold nose. "Come on, Vincent," he said, his voice thick. "Let's get back to Tifa."

I nodded, not really hearing what he had said, and rose onto legs as unsteady as Nanaki's. Like a faithful friend, he stood by my side as we made slow progress down the hall, letting me lean up against him when I became dizzy and even let me rest my hand on top of his head for extra support.

Once we reached her room, my energy drained out of me like I was a wet sponge that had all of its water squeezed out of it. I sunk down into my chair and laid my head down on the sheets that looked so soft and inviting. Before I succumbed to my fatigue, I reached out and gripped Tifa's hand, holding it tightly in mine.

* * *

**(Tifa)**

I was so warm.

Never had I felt so warm in my life, like I was wrapped in a blanket sitting in front of a crackling fireplace. I didn't know where I was, but I knew that as long as I stayed here, I would be safe. Nothing would ever harm me.

I began to realize that wherever I was was eerily similar to being held in the mako that had kept me alive for three hundred years, except then I had been surrounded by a never ending expanse of bright green. Now I was surrounded by a soft, white light. The light, it seemed, was the source of my warmth. It wasn't blinding or too bright for my eyes to handle. I could look around at the wide open expanse of white as long as I wanted to and not be bothered by it in the least. It was like staring into a cloud.

Like before, I didn't want to leave my safe haven. I wanted to stay here forever. This time I knew what awaited me if I was to awaken again. The deep, searing pain I remembered when I was last awake was initiative enough for me to want to stay asleep. I was content here. There was no reason for me to leave.

"Tifa..."

I could barely hear the voice that whispered my name. It was only a soft murmur in the back of my mind and I was so warm and comfortable I didn't want to acknowledge it.

The voice continued to call my name and I quickly became annoyed by it, wishing it would leave me in peace. I slowly looked around trying to find who was calling my name. My annoyance with the situation quickly turned into shocked astonishment.

At first, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I rubbed my eyes fiercely, thinking it was merely an illusion created by my delirious mind and that when I opened them again the illusion would be gone, but when I removed my hands from my eyes my mother was still standing there smiling at me.

She was wearing the clothes that she had died in: old, faded jeans with holes in the knees from working in her garden and her favorite long sleeved, blue plaid shirt that always had dirt stains on it. She said nothing and made no gesture towards me, just stood there content in looking at me.

I was content in looking upon her as well. I hadn't seen her face since I was a little girl and it had almost vanished from my memory. I inherited the wine colored eyes from her that had earned me so much admiration from my mother's friends. And, after her death, as I grew older, I was even mistaken for her as well.

Then, before I was ready, she started to fade away. I took a few steps toward her, but every step I took it felt like I was walking on a treadmill. By the time I reached the place where she had been standing, she was gone and I was left alone. My sanctuary didn't feel very welcoming after that.


	9. Suspense

**Chapter 9**

**Suspense**

* * *

Vincent was becoming desperate, that much was obvious. After he collapsed from his fatigue, he stayed asleep for a substantial amount of time. It was dark out by the time he woke up and he immediately looked at the screen that showed Tifa's vital signs thinking that she had slipped away while he slumbered. Once he was confident that she was fine for the time being, he set out in search of Judith and possible news of the cure.

Nanaki wasn't worried in the least. Judith was a very intelligent woman and would get the new cure for Tifa in enough time. He had seen her work miracles in the past and he was confident that she would pull through for them and for Tifa.

That was before things started to go terribly wrong.

Vincent hadn't been gone long, maybe ten or fifteen minutes at the most. Nanaki was lightly dozing, listening intently for Vincent's return in a chair on the far side of the room, when a strangled gasp brought him to attention. He stared around the room in confusion, wondering where the sound had come from when his gaze fell upon Tifa's quivering form.

She was awake.

The fear that engulfed him froze him to the spot. _What in the name of all things holy is going on?!_ he thought frantically, his mouth hanging open in shock.

She slowly turned her head in his direction, her hand moving feebly towards him. "Nanaki..."

He jumped out of his chair and bounded over to her bed so quickly his inertia almost carried him past her. Nanaki was extremely surprised, that was the quickest he'd moved in a while. He placed his paw into her hand and studied her face, looking for a sign, any sign, that would tell him what was wrong, but it didn't look like she was in any pain and that sign was definitely a bad one.

"Where's Vincent?" she asked, turning to look at the chair that the gunman normally occupied. "He isn't here. Where did he go?" She started becoming panicked at his absence and Nanaki's mind scrambled.

"He left to find Judith. It's okay, he'll be back soon." The red beast was starting to panic himself. Her being awake and in no pain was an extremely bad sign that meant she could be standing right at Death's door and on the verge of walking through it. He risked a glance over his shoulder, hoping to catch a flash of red, but all he saw was white lab coats and different colored scrubs. Tifa's meek voice made his head snap back around.

"I never knew this is what death would feel like." Nanaki starting to whine, his ears already pressed into his bushy mane. "I'm so tired." Tifa's eyelids started to droop, but Nanaki was quick to grab her attention.

"No!" He yelled with such ferocity that Tifa's eyes flew back open and looked at him alarmingly. "No, Tifa, you have to stay awake. You can't go to sleep! You must stay awake!"

"I can't, Nanaki. It's so hard to keep my eyes open. So hard." As she spoke, her eyelids became heavier and heavier and her head began to loll to one side.

Nanaki placed a paw on her chest and shook her. "No, Tifa! Stay awake!" He looked behind him again, but still saw no sign of Vincent or Judith. "Tifa, please stay awake! I'm going to get help!" He turned and bounded over to the door. "Don't fall asleep!" he yelled before sailing out the door.

From the frazzled state that Nanaki was in the hospital staff thought that Meteor was falling again. The red beast, with flaming haunches raised, was getting ready to streak off down a random hallway when a female nurse laid a hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"I have to find Judith!" He hoped the urgency in his voice and how intimidating he must look would make the nurse understand how severe his situation was. "Tifa Lockhart is awake!"

"What? How?" the nurse stammered. "She's supposed to be asleep still."

"I don't know, but she is and she's not in any pain. I think the virus is claiming her."

The nurse ran back to the nurse's station and lifted a telephone receiver from the cradle, mashing her fingers down on the correct sequence of numbers to activate the intercom. "Dr. Larson, report to ICU. We have an emergency. Dr. Larson, you're needed in ICU."

Nanaki nodded his head in thanks at the nurse before looking down every hallway, searching for the two people that should be here. Figuring they would arrive soon after hearing the announcement, he swiftly ran back into Tifa's room.

He risked a quick glance at the monitor and a chill swept over him when he saw that her life signs were gradually getting weaker, her heart beat becoming slower. He slammed his paws down on the bed and shook it in a feeble attempt to keep her awake and alive for as long as he could.

His attempt, he was relieved to find out, was successful.

He heard a sharp intake of breath and his spirits immediately rose. He breathed a great sigh of relief, but did not relax in the least. Tifa was still in danger.

"Tifa, are you okay?" He realized that he had just asked an extremely stupid question.

_Of course she isn't okay,_ he thought, mentally chastising himself.

She looked at him with a far away gaze in her eyes. "Nanaki? Why did you wake me up? I was so comfortable."

"I had to. You can't go back to sleep. You have to stay awake."

"But why?"she asked again weakly.

"Um...well..." His mind raced trying to find a reason that would keep her awake long enough for Judith to arrive. An idea flashed in his mind and he was surprised he hadn't thought of it sooner. "Because Vincent is going to be here soon. You wouldn't want to be asleep when Vincent gets here, do you?"

"No, of course not." She paused to take a deep breath. "Can I sleep after he gets here, Nanaki?"

"Sure," Nanaki replied hastily, not knowing the magnitude of what he just agreed to. "Sure you can, Tifa."

She smiled at him then nuzzled into her pillow to wait for Vincent. Much to Nanaki's relief, Judith and Vincent bursted through the door a few moments later. Vincent rushed to Tifa's side while Judith stood triumphantly next to Tifa's monitor with a syringe in her hand.

"Didn't think I would do it, huh, Nanaki?" she asked, smiling smugly.

* * *

**(Vincent)**

I was scared out of my mind to see Tifa awake. How or why didn't really matter. As soon as I entered the room, she reached out to me and I gladly took her soft hand in mine.

"Vincent..." She smiled as she said my name. I kissed the back of her hand lovingly.

"I've missed you," I whispered against her hand.

"I missed you too." She smiled even wider and her gaze flitted up to the ceiling. "I can go to sleep now."

I frowned and was confused by what she might mean until I heard the alarms on Tifa's monitor go off.

"Shit!" Judith swore, grabbing Tifa's IV tube and draining the improved cure into it. Once the syringe was empty, she tossed it into a biohazard bin. "It's a waiting game now gentlemen."

"Tifa?" I shook her shoulder feebly. "Teef, wake up."

I let my gaze shift to the monitor that was hovering over her bed like it was just as unsure that she would live. When Judith injected the cure it had stabilized her vital signs, but now they were growing weaker by the second. All three of us watched the screen with bated breath, praying and hoping that she would pull through.

It suddenly became stifling hot in the cool hospital room. Sweat beaded on my brow and the cowl of my cloak had somehow become extremely tight, like a vice, around my neck. My hands, even my claw, began to twitch and shake madly like they had developed a mind of their own.

As her heart beat fell into the danger zone, my own heart was beating so quickly I thought it might burst from my chest and slither over to Tifa like it would replace her own weak, dying heart with itself. Then, without warning, her heart beat flat lined. It happened so fast all three of us were taken by surprise.

I got up so quick that the chair I was sitting in skidded away and fell over. Judith rushed to Tifa's side and flung the blankets away, placing her hands on her chest to perform CPR. "I know this is primitive, but it's the only way to save her life right now," she said as she began to push down on Tifa's chest. Seconds later, some of Judith's medical staff rushed into the room pulling a defibrillator on a cart behind them. One of them flipped on the power switch. Judith continued to perform CPR without stopping or saying a word to her aides.

Once the machine had charged fully, one of the aides pulled the paddles out of the cradles they were resting in while the other squirted a jelly-like substance on them. Rubbing the paddles together the aid came up next to Judith who was ready to receive them.

"Stand back, Vincent! Ready?" she yelled behind her. Once her aides yelled their response, Judith placed the paddles firmly on Tifa's chest. "Clear!

Her aide pushed a large red button on the top of the machine that sent a rough jolt through Tifa's body, making the readings on the screen jump erratically before returning to a flat line. Three more times, Judith tried to start up her heart again with no change. She tried one last time to be sure, but her heart just wouldn't start.

Judith's shoulders fell in shame. "I'm sorry, Vincent." She handed the paddles back to her aide and turned Tifa's monitor off to silence the incessant blare of the alarm. "Death occurred at 10:23 P.M. Another one lost to the Metamora virus." One of her aides marked it down on the chart handing on the wall next to Tifa's bed before helping to wheel the cart out of the room. Judith turned back to me with sadness of the worst kind radiating from her icy blue eyes. "I'll give you time to say good bye before I have the coroner come pick her up."

Once Judith had left the room, my knees no longer had the strength to hold me up. It was like I was a puppet whose strings had been cut. My knees cried out in pain when they struck the cold hard floor, but I welcomed the pain, relished in it. Anything to take my attention away from the white hot pain in my chest that was quickly spreading through my body, becoming the blood that ran through my veins.

I reached out with a shaking hand for Tifa's still warm one. It felt as though I had suddenly turned into a weak, old man for no matter how tightly I gripped her hand her fingers kept slipping out of my grasp, as inconsistent as sand. Even though I still felt Chaos' presence, I truly thought that I had lost my immortality and that time was swiftly catching up with me. I could almost feel the life slowly being siphoned right out of my veins.

I scooted closer to her and gently placed my left arm around her even though she could no longer feel the weight of it. A weak smile tugged at one corner of my mouth as I looked upon her serene face. It seemed like she was only sleeping, blissfully unaware of all that was happening around her. More tears blurred my vision as I played with a strand of her silky hair.

_Yes, she's only sleeping, _I thought, trying desperately to make my mind believe the lie I was telling it._ She'll wake up soon and everything will be fine. All of this is just a bad nightmare._

After holding in my anguish and sorrow for so long, the dam that I built to hold it back could no longer withstand the pressure. At first, it only cracked, but when it seemed as though it would hold, small pieces began falling away. Those small pieces became bigger and bigger until the entire thing shattered like a piece of precious crystal and carried me over the edge.

I trembled and shook, wailed and pounded the bed with my fist. We were so close! So very, very close. The fates had been against me for so long that I was so sure they would allow me this one chance for happiness. Tifa was my chance, my last chance, for pure happiness, but the fates had denied me that chance once again. Just like they had denied me Lucrecia.

Nanaki walked up and sat next to me. Without thinking and even without knowing what I was doing, I flung myself off of Tifa and wrapped my arms around Nanaki's broad shoulders. I shoved my face as far as it would go into inside his large mane and continued to cry. Nanaki said nothing, offered no condolences. He just sat and allowed me to hang onto him for as long as I needed, allowed himself to be my lifeline. After what seemed like hours, I slowly started to calm down. Nanaki patted me on the back with his paw and drew in a deep, shuddering breath. There was no doubt in my mind that the large red lion had been crying as well.

I drew away from him and took no surprise from the dark trails that fell away from his lone eye. I smiled half-heartedly at him, silently thanking him for understanding. I got up from position on the floor and rubbed my aching knees before turning to look at Tifa again.

To say the least, I was hoping for a miracle. Hoping that she would open her eyes and smile at me, but hope had brought me this far and hope couldn't raise the dead. I was just fooling myself.

I breathed in deeply and let it out in a heavy sigh. I caressed her face with my human hand and smoothed out her hair. Leaning down, I placed my forehead against hers and prepared myself to say goodbye.

I'm sorry," I said, my voice breaking. "I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. There were so many things I wanted to tell you. So many things I never got the chance to say and now you'll never hear them. After searching for so long, I know that you were my soul mate, Tifa. You were the missing piece of my soul. I am so thankful that I got to see you one last time. I will be forever grateful for it. I love you, Tifa Lockhart and I will never forget you. I promise you that I will see you again."

I kissed her forehead and turned away from her, intent on leaving. Nanaki would make his own way back to Cosmo Canyon. I had almost reached the door when I heard Nanaki speak.

"Vincent, wait!" he exclaimed, his voice excited. "Don't leave yet!"

I looked back to find Nanaki staring intently down at Tifa's face with a wide animalistic grin spread across his features. "What is it?" I asked, striding back to the bed, my heart in my throat. I examined her and became annoyed when I saw that nothing had changed. "Nanaki, what am I supposed to be looked for?"

"Don't you see it? Don't you see her chest moving?" he exclaimed. "Vincent, she's breathing!"

My eyes widened. He was right. Her chest was rising and falling slowly like she had been sleeping all along. I gasped and once again went crashing to my knees next to her. I grabbed her hand in both of mine and leaned in closer, like a young child would watch the toaster in anticipation of seeing the toast pop up. "You're alive," I said to no one in particular. More tears brimmed around my eyes, but this time they were tears of joy. "Sweet Gia, Tifa, you're alive."

The eyelids that I thought would be closed forever fluttered open slowly. She looked around the room in a sort of daze, confused about where she was. Her gaze fell on Nanaki first. A small twinge of jealousy welled up inside me at Nanaki being the first one she saw, but it was gone as fast as it had appeared. She smiled at him and reached her hand out, softly patting him on the head. I waited patiently for her to turn her head towards me, waited patiently to once again see recognition flashing in her wine colored eyes and hoping with every breath that the recognition would be there. I held my breath as she slowly turned her head to acknowledge the person that was gripping her hand so firmly yet so softly at the same time.

What I was expecting to see in her face was all I had dreamed of and more. When she saw me, a wide grin broke out on her face, tears started to well up in her tired eyes and she softly squeezed my hands before gently wriggling it out of their grip and placing it on my cheek. I sighed softly and reached my own hand up and held it tightly to my face, reveling in the smell and feel of her soft skin once again. In those few moments it was like I had awoken from a horrible dream.

"You're alive," I repeated over and over, sobbing into her hand. "I thought you were dead." I dared to look up at her, to see her reaction to me crying, but to my relief she continued to smile at me and that made me happier than I had ever been in my life.

"For a while, I was."

I opened my mouth to say something else when the doors to Tifa's room opened and Judith, followed by a team from the morgue, filed in. "Did I give you enough time to say your good byes?" Judith asked, still unaware that the woman the people from the morgue were going to pick up was no longer in any condition to go with them.

"Actually, Judith, we were just saying hello." Nanaki grinned as we moved away from Tifa's bedside so she could see for herself.

At the sight of Tifa lying in front of her quite alive I could see that Judith was having a difficult time believing that the girl she had seen die and pronounce dead could be breathing. She looked over at Nanaki, shock and confusion finding a place to call home on her face. I heard Nanaki chuckle under his breath over Judith's confusion. Obviously, it was a rare occasion when this woman was ever confused.

The great red beast only shrugged his broad shoulders and flashed a smile at Judith's unvocalized question. Evidently, Nanaki's curt answer didn't satisfy her for she let out a long exasperated sigh and marched over to Tifa, now intent on finding out the answers for herself since no one was going to cooperate with her.

Once she reached Tifa's bedside, she leaned down and examined her closely, her blue eyes narrowed in concentration. Tifa eyed Judith with a very confused expression, leaning away the closer Judith got.

Then, as if Judith just simply snapped out of her 'doctor's' trance, she shook her head slightly and backed away. "I'm Judith Larson, your doctor." She paused and met Tifa's eyes. "You do know that you were dead, right?"

Tifa sighed and fell back into her pillows. "Yes, I know. I know I was dead."

"Then how are you here? I don't understand."

"I don't really understand myself," Tifa mumbled. Her eyes darkened as she recalled the near death experience she went through. "I was walking through the darkness, trying to find my way, when a blinding light appeared in front of me. I was getting ready to walk into the light when something I can only describe as a presence fell over me. Then I heard a voice telling me to go back, that it wasn't time for me to go. I wanted to go into the light, but I was compelled to listen to the voice. Then the light disappeared and it felt like I had sprouted wings or something because I felt myself floating upward. I closed my eyes because it felt so good to be floating through the air then when I opened my eyes I was here."

I smiled as I sent a silent thanks to whoever or whatever brought her back to me. I was still having trouble believing that she was really alive. A part of me thought that I was only in the middle of a very pleasant dream and that when I finally woke up I would wake to a nightmare. I reached over with my claw arm and scratched the back of my fleshy human hand just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. The metal digits of my claw came back with little droplets of blood. If I was dreaming, I surely would have come out of it then. This is real. Tifa is alive and now we are going to live the life we have wanted for so long. We can finally be together.

After Judith was convinced she wasn't seeing things, she gave Tifa a quick physical exam to make sure the cure had really worked before leaving to get her discharge papers together. Nanaki left, complaining that all the excitement made him hungry enough to eat a full grown chocobo.

I was actually glad that Nanaki left. It would give me ample time to talk to Tifa privately. After the room was empty, I walked slowly over to her bedside.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little stiff."

She tossed the thin hospital blankets away from her legs and slowly swung them over the side of the bed. I reached out to her and helped her stand, ready to catch her if she became too weak. Her shaky legs regained their strength quickly and after a few minutes of me assisting her around the room she no longer needed my support.

She was silent for a long time and I was getting ready to say something when she beat me to it. "Where will we go, Vincent?"

I was surprised by her sudden question. "What do you mean?"

"Well," she started, smiling up at me. "I really wouldn't object to traveling the world with you after we leave. I'd get to see how everything has changed. I've seen so much already and I know there's so much more I haven't seen yet, but we still need a place to call home."

I smiled, admitting to myself that she was absolutely right. As much as I would love to show her all the places she hasn't seen, we needed a place to call home first. "I have actually been thinking about that and Emperor Nozomi has graciously agreed to build us a house in the Wutai country side, away from the now very prosperous city. What do you think?"

Tifa's smile widened. "Wutai sounds lovely."

Even though she was wearing a hospital gown and her hair was disheveled, she was still beautiful. Even if she was wearing a paper bag she would still be beautiful. And, oh, to hear her voice again! It was like a warm fire to my frozen soul, melting the three hundred year frost in a matter of seconds. The intoxicating melody that was her voice I thought I would never hear again.

I could no longer fight the impulse to gather her into my arms and hold her. I gently grabbed her fragile hand with my claw then placed my human one on the base of her back and drew her close to me. She gingerly placed her unoccupied hand on my shoulder and held me tightly as well. And we stood there in the middle of the hospital room, holding one another, content in the silence of each other's presence.


	10. Lost and Found

**Chapter 10**

**Lost and Found**

* * *

**(Tifa)**

I felt happier in that moment while he held me close to him than I had ever felt since my awakening. It felt so good to be back in his arms that I almost started to weep for joy. Upon waking in this strange world, I had many fears of never finding someone that actually knew me for me, not a fan that read about me in a history book. Those thoughts and fears were short lived once I found Nanaki and heard about Vincent and our past together. Knowing that I wasn't going to be alone anymore was reason enough to keep me optimistic.

Now I have Vincent back. I'll never be alone again.

"I missed you so much," I mumbled, clinging to him even tighter and pushing my face into the thick folds of his cloak.

"I cannot express how much I have missed you, Tifa. On few occasions the heart ache I felt made it almost impossible to move, thinking if I did my heart would burst, but now I will never let you out of my sight again." His claw gripped my hand tighter, but not tight enough to be painful, just enough to let me know that the words he spoke were the honest truth.

"Even when you sleep?" I asked, my heart lightening as I looked up at him with a smile.

A large grin appeared on his face at my joke. "I will just have to sleep with my eyes open from now on."

We laughed together then. It felt wonderful even though we were standing in a place that I desperately wanted to get out of, wearing an itchy gown that I absolutely despised and wanted to get out of even more. I was almost willing Judith to return with my discharge papers and my clothes. That would make me almost as happy as being in the arms of the man I loved.

A calm smile slowly spread onto my face as I breathed in the scent of his clothing, but when I felt his tight hold on me loosen I looked up and gazed about, wondering if someone had entered the room while I was aloof. When I discovered no one had come in, I became a little confused. The room was still empty except for us. I lifted my gaze to Vincent's face, hoping to find the answer there in his deep red irises, but instead I became even more confused when I saw the expression that darkened his eyes and held his face in shadow. I was getting ready to ask him what was wrong when he opened his mouth and spoke.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner. I almost lost you because I was too slow."

My confusion disappeared completely as I realized what conflicted him. I placed my hand lovingly on his cheek and pushed his head towards me so he was facing me, but still he did not meet my gaze. "You shouldn't feel guilty about something you had no control over."

"I know," he replied, resting his human hand over mine and kissing my palm. "I was totally helpless when they woke you the first time. I thought you were going to die right there in my arms."

"Feeling helpless is part of being human, Vincent. I'm not expecting you to be a god."

He didn't reply, only held me even tighter than before. His silence during that time spoke volumes to me. He didn't need to say anything; I heard the words of his heart convey how horribly weak he thought himself to be. How he wished he had the powers of a god to protect me from whatever harm that should befall me. He wanted to turn himself into something that he wasn't just for me, but that's not what I wanted.

I wanted him to be himself. Nothing more.

I'm pretty sure that him and I would have continued to stand there, wrapped in each other's arms even if Meteor fell right on top of us, but when Judith marched back in the room with my discharge papers and my clothes, I pried my arms away from Vincent and signed them as fast as I could without making my signature unreadable. I wasted no time in getting that gown off either. I snatched my clothes away from the nurse that accompanied Judith and bolted into the small, cramped bathroom so fast she barely knew what hit her.

Once I was back in regular clothes I felt much better. I breathed a sigh of relief and left the gown in the bathroom, happy to be rid of it. When I exited the bathroom I was overjoyed to see that Nanaki was back as well. He flashed a wide smile at me as I ran towards him and gave him the biggest bear hug I could muster.

"I'm glad to see you again too, Tifa," he said, patting my back with one of his large, heavy paws. I backed away from him and went back to stand next to Vincent. "Oh, Vincent, I got passage for us back to Cosmo Canyon. The airship leaves in half an hour. Are you ready to go, Tifa?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

We thanked Judith and power walked out of the hospital, much to my relief. The walk to the airship station wasn't far, but I wouldn't have minded if it was a ten mile walk. Junon was absolutely gorgeous. Every time I was tempted to walk away from Vincent to go explore something I didn't recognize or something interesting that caught my eye, he would tug on my hand gently and remind me that we didn't have a lot of time.

"I want to come back here some time," I said, looking around with astonishment.

"We will. I promise," he replied, smiling at me.

Our airship ride back to Cosmo Canyon was spent in discussion. Vincent and Nanaki talked about what him and I were going to do. After a short while, Nanaki made Vincent's mind up for him. He would make a guest house ready for us once we arrived and that we were welcome to stay there as long as we like until our permanent home near Wutai was completed. Vincent said he would contact Emperor Nozomi to let him know that he was going to take him up on his offer of building us a house.

"He will be very pleased." Vincent took my hand and squeezed it gently. "He's been asking to build me a house for years."

I smiled and remembered how kind the Emperor had been when I met him. That made me think of Yuffie. No one in the group had really taken her seriously, especially after she stole our materia, but she eventually gained our trust back and became one of my closest friends. I didn't have to ask Nanaki or Emperor Nozomi how good an Empress she had turned out to be. I just knew.

Vincent and Nanaki continued to talk about other things once the important issues had been addressed so I scooted across the bed that we were sitting on to the small window and gazed out across the landscape to the areas that were familiar and yet unfamiliar to me. Even the land around the ever growing towns had changed. Nothing was safe from the passage of time.

Our stay at Cosmo Canyon was a pleasant one. I spent a lot of my time getting to know Nanaki's mate and cubs. He also introduced me to various others of his species. The sight of so many of Nanaki's kind almost felt like a dream. His entire race had almost been snuffed out of existence, that is, until Nanaki found his mate, Meera. I had a chance to ask him how many litters of cubs him and Meera have had and I was very surprised to discover that they were on their tenth litter, with plans to have even more in the future.

Vincent contacted Emperor Nozomi shortly after we arrived and told him his good news, which the Emperor was quite excited to hear. The Emperor was so excited, in fact, that he promised he would have our house finished in less than a week. I was skeptical about the time it would take, but Vincent assured me that if the Emperor wanted something built that fast the workers would fall over each other to ensure it was done on time. I still was a little skeptical, but now that I was living three hundred plus years in the future I was quickly finding out that not quite everything was impossible.

I couldn't believe it when exactly a week after Emperor Nozomi had spoken with Vincent, he sent word that our new home was one hundred percent finished. He even sent pictures to prove it. The house was absolutely gorgeous, more gorgeous than I thought it would be. The intricate woodwork both on the inside and outside was remarkable and left me wondering how such beauty had been completed so quickly. The Emperor told us in his parting words that we were free to move in whenever we liked. Since all we had was each other we told him we would be there the following day.

What happened that night will be imprinted upon my memory for the rest of my life.

I had gotten tired towards the middle of the afternoon so I told Vincent I was going to go take a nap. I must have been asleep for quite some time because when I woke up, it was dark outside, but someone had lit a candle and put it on my bedside table. I was still a little tired and was about to close my eyes and go back to sleep when I noticed a note with my name scrawled on the front that was propped up against the candle.

I recognized it as Vincent's hand writing and eagerly reached over for it. I just so happened to reach for it with my left hand and almost jumped out of my skin when I saw my ring finger was bare. I forgot about the note and began to desperately search the guest house for it. After almost forty minutes of tearing the whole house apart to find it, I was so distraught that the note from Vincent had been totally pushed from my mind. I rushed back into mine and Vincent's room to look for it some more, thinking I had looked over it and missed it, but my frazzled state prevented me from seeing much of anything.

Now I have no recollection of grabbing the note Vincent left me, but somehow it ended up in my hand after I left the guest house, but I figured I picked it up without knowing I did it. It may be three hundred years in the future and anything's possible, but I have yet to see a piece of paper sprout legs and jump into someone's hand.

I paused and forced myself to calm down enough to read his note.

_Dear Tifa,_

_By now, I suspect you have noticed the absence of your engagement ring. Please, don't be worried, I found it. Meet me by the Eternal Flame._

_Vincent_

I breathed an enormous sigh of relief. I don't know what I would have done if Vincent wouldn't have found the ring. I don't know how Vincent would have handled it if I told him that I lost the ring he gave me so long ago. He would have been so disappointed and I don't think I would be able to handle that. Thank Holy he found it.

Our guest house was quite a considerable distance from where the Eternal Flame was, but that would gave me enough time to think up the excuse I would give Vincent. I swore it was still on my finger when I got to the guest house to take my nap...

By the time I reached the Eternal Flame, I still hadn't come up with an excuse and the sight of Vincent standing there in front of the Flame almost brought me to tears. I didn't want him to get angry with me. I had never incurred Vincent's wrath and I wanted to keep it that way.

It occurred to me when I was just about to step onto the raised platform of rock that held the Eternal Flame that I had forgotten my shoes and on top of all of that I was still wearing the baggy sweat pants and plain white shirt that Nanaki had found for me. I looked horrible and wished I would have slowed down enough to change.

While I was having thoughts of sprinting back to the guest house so I could change, Vincent turned around and spotted me standing there like a deer caught in the headlights. He smiled and reached out his claw to me. Without thinking, I set my ringless left hand into his claw. I tried to keep the strained expression off my face, but he already knew it wasn't going to be on my hand so what else did I have to lose?

The rest of my dignity, for one, if anybody saw me out here like this.

"I'm not mad at you, Tifa."

That one little sentence lifted the immense burden that had been thrown on top of me. It was like he had read my mind. "You're not?" I asked, still a little unsure.

"Of course I'm not," he replied, switching my hand from his left to his right. "I just hope you don't get angry with me though."

"What do you mean?" I asked, utterly confused.

"Well," he began with a bit of shyness in his voice. "while you were sleeping, I took it off your finger." My jaw dropped as he produced it from his pocket, but before I had a chance to get angry with him he got down on one knee and carefully slid the ring back onto my finger. "I know I've already asked you once before, but that was a long time ago." He paused and took a deep breath. "So, Tifa Lockhart, I love you with all my heart and soul. Will you marry me?"

Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I almost died of embarrassment right there on the spot. It seemed like every man and beast in Cosmo Canyon had shown up to watch Vincent re-propose to me. He was lucky I loved him so much or I would have throttled him right there in front of everyone. My unoccupied hand twitched slightly as I held myself back from reaching out and shaking him until his teeth rattled.

I let out a long, exasperated sigh and jerked him to his feet. "Of course I will!" I whispered harshly, my face still red. "I said yes once already. What made you think I didn't want to marry you anymore?"

He rolled his eyes around in mockery of deep, contemplative thought then shrugged his shoulders like he couldn't think up a good reason. "I don't know. My mistake." He flashed one of his very rare and very handsome grins at me before pulling me to him and enveloping me in a passionate kiss.

Curse him for being so damn gorgeous.


End file.
